The University of the West (formerly known as Hsi Lai University, commonly known as UWest) is a university in Rosemead, California. It was founded in 1991 by Venerable Master Hsing Yun, founder of the Taiwan-based Buddhist order Fo Guang Shan and Hsi Lai Temple, the North American order headquarters. The school offered its first class in spring of 1991 and therefore chooses that year as its official start date, making 2011 the date of the campus' 20th anniversary.

UWest is a private, non profit school accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Although founded by a Buddhist organization, UWest is not a Buddhist college, which is a term typically used for monasteries or schools that train people for the monastic order. University of the West is an accredited undergraduate and advanced degree-granting institution.[citation needed]

UWest students are not required to subscribe to the Buddhist faith or practice Buddhism in any form. Indeed, UWest's undergraduate and graduate programs in Business Administration garner higher enrollment numbers than its undergraduate and graduate programs in Religious Studies.