"[1] The organisation was founded on the principles of German educator Kurt Hahn in 1962 to promote intercultural understanding.

Young people from more than 155 countries are selected through a system of national committees and pursue the International Baccalaureate Diploma; some of the schools are also open to younger years.

These entities work together to set the global strategy for the movement, oversee fundraising, and approve new colleges.

The first college in the movement, UWC Atlantic College in Wales, United Kingdom, was founded in 1962 by Kurt Hahn, a German educator who had previously founded Schule Schloss Salem in Germany, Gordonstoun in Scotland, the Outward Bound movement, and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme.

[22][23] The IB Diploma Programme was co-developed in 1968 by the United World College of the Atlantic, the International School of Geneva (Ecolint), and the United Nations School in New York City (UNIS),[24] and aims "to develop students who have excellent breadth and depth of knowledge – students who flourish physically, intellectually, emotionally and ethically".

[25] Today, UWC and the IB Organisation continue to work closely together to develop new curricula and shaping international education.

[27] The UWC education nurtures students' whole person development by having the 'Creativity, Activity, Service' Programme (CAS) at its core.

The colleges in Italy and Canada, in particular, receive significant support and funding from their national and local governments to this day,[33] while the college in Mostar is a collaborative initiative with the IB Organization and was founded with support from various International organizations (including the OSCE, the EU, the CEB, and the UN).

Davis in 2000 and now supports UWC graduates to study at 99 selected US colleges and universities, and has grown to become the world's largest, privately funded, international scholarship programme.

[37][38] In 2020, UWC announced a partnership with the Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust, the Rise Programme,[39] through which 15 students with refugee backgrounds will receive all-inclusive scholarships to attend across 3 years from 2021 to 2023, and further educational programmes will be delivered at Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya.