WCIU offers online-only graduate degree programs in International Development with various specializations and is affiliated with several Christian non-governmental organizations.

[4] William Carey International University (WCIU) was incorporated in February 1977, and licensed by the State of California to grant degrees.

The University was founded under the leadership of Dr. Ralph D. Winter who led the effort to purchase the 17-acre campus and housing of the former Nazarene College.

Dr. Winter envisioned a holistic curriculum that integrated history with social sciences, focusing exclusively on international development with an emphasis on practical, field-based experimentation.

The University would employ a diverse, experienced, and dispersed faculty using a mentored approach to education, and would work closely with non-governmental voluntary agencies worldwide.

Between 1994 and 2006, WCIU Faculty focused on developing, implementing, and revising its patented[citation needed] World Christian Foundations (WCF) curriculum, intended "to re-engineer the liberal arts and seminary curricula into an integrated framework that looks at God’s global purposes throughout history.

In 2019, the campus in Pasadena was sold to EF Education First which has a plan to establish a private boarding high school.