Founded by Dr. Richard M. Gray, it offered a program that integrated a grounding in the liberal arts with work-study and a required two-quarter "World Study" in a developing country.
During the urban stay, students lived with a host family and attended regularly scheduled language, culture, and history classes.
During the rural stay, students again lived with host families and conducted independent research studies while continuing to learn the country's language.
In the early 1980s the college built and moved to a permanent campus off U.S. Highway 101 in the rolling hills of northern Marin County, between Novato and Petaluma (now the home of the Institute of Noetic Sciences).
[1][2][3] World College West closed due to inadequate funding in Fall of 1992, the result of difficulties in succession after its founding president retired.