Established in 1907, NCU currently enjoys an average yearly enrollment of over five thousand students, from up to 35 countries.

[2][3][4][5] Northern Caribbean University is the oldest private tertiary institution in Jamaica, and was first known as West Indian Training School.

Currently, the university offers over 70 graduate and post-graduate programs in the sciences, humanities, religion, business and education.

The school is named in honour of Mrs. Hyacinth Chen, the mother of major donor, Michael Lee-Chin, Jamaican/Canadian businessman.

[citation needed] The university gained global exposure in the Microsoft Imagine Cup competition of 2007 where members of the school's Computer and Information Sciences department competing as Team ICAD took 3rd place.