University of the West Indies

Study in Barbados

With teaching standards to match some of the finest universities across the world, one particular campus offers the added bonus of sea, sun and sand for the perfect environment to take a degree. The Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies in Barbados, has already developed an international reputation befitting a centuries-old institution of higher learning.

The UWI, or The University of the West Indies, is a regional Caribbean institution, with four campuses. It is the oldest fully regional institution of higher education in the Commonwealth Caribbean, and is supported by and serves fifteen Caribbean countries: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Christopher & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines and the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. The university was established in 1948 in Jamaica, on the Mona Campus, as a University College in special relationship with the University of London, and achieved independent University status by Royal Charter in 1962. The St. Augustine Campus in Trinidad was started in 1960 and the Cave Hill Campus in Barbados was founded in 1963. In addition, there are now University Centres consolidated into the University’s fourth Campus - the Open Campus.

The UWI is probably the only university in the world that can boast eight Prime Ministers among its graduates. It has also nurtured two Nobel Laureates - Sir Arthur Lewis and Derek Walcott, and three current UWI staff, one from each of its Campuses, were members of the prestigious Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that were joint winners, along with Mr. Al Gore of the USA, of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Over the years, UWI’s graduates have won dozens of the prestigious Rhodes scholarships to attend Cambridge University in England. This year, two Rhodes scholarships were won by Cave Hill’s graduates.

The UWI has about 1,500 academic and technical staff, 350 senior administrators and almost 40,000 students, of which 20% are graduate students. About 80% of the graduate students are enrolled in the approximately 200 Taught Masters programs delivered by UWI. 

The focal areas of interdisciplinary study include sustainable tourism and development, alternative energy, biotechnology, agricultural diversification and economics, the legal protection and use of biodiversity, natural products and genetic resources, cultural studies, social, economic and legal studies, tropical medicine, health and wellness, natural hazards management and disaster risk reduction, natural resource and environmental use and management, education, teacher training and development, and international and integration studies. The Cave Hill Campus has established a strong track record in a wide range of traditional and modern undergraduate programmes, including theology, hospitality management, ecology, meteorology, law and medicine.

Cave Hill's Chronic Disease Research Center stands at the summit of a national health services network, that matches most in the developed world. Cutting edge research in the detection and treatment of chronic illnesses such as diabetes, glaucoma and heart disease, including development and use of technology far more suited to the conditions and finances of the developing world, is now taking center stage at Cave Hill. The Campus also boasts a multi-million dollar sports facilities development program that coincides with the upgrade and expansion of teaching facilities to rival any A-rated campus in North America or Europe, which will contribute to a state-of-the-art environment for track and field, cricket, soccer, hockey, volleyball or netball".

Whether a student's interest is in the arts, medicine, sports or any of its other programmes, those enrolled at Cave Hill will study in a lush, tropical environment where the cooling breezes of the Atlantic and the shimmering turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea, are perfect study partners. For further information about study in Barbados you may visit the Cave Hill campus website. You can also find more information about student visas in our Entry Requirements section.