The Inter-American University of Puerto Rico is a private, non-profit institution of higher education with deep Christian roots. For more than 100 years, it has been dedicated to preparing students in all branches of humanistic, social and scientific endeavors, and has served as a cultural bridge between North America and Latin America.
Reverend John Will Harris founded the institution in 1912, as an elementary and high school, under the name of Instituto Politécnico de Puerto Rico, in the Lomas de Santa Marta in San Germán. Today, the San Germán Campus is located on that land.
In 1927 the first high school class graduated.
In 1944, it was accredited by the Middle States Association of College and Secondary Schools, becoming the first liberal arts college to receive such accreditation in Puerto Rico and outside the continental United States. This accreditation has remained in effect throughout the years.
The University offers academic programs at its eleven campuses: Aguadilla, Arecibo, Barranquitas, Bayamón, Fajardo, Guayama, Metropolitano, Ponce and San Germán; and its two professional schools, the School of Optometry and the School of Law.