The organization was established as the "Central Office of the China Union Universities" in New York City in 1922 to coordinate administrative and financial work of the North American boards of trustees of several Protestant Christian colleges in China. On May 18, 1945, the Regents of the University of the State of New York issued a charter consolidating several existing colleges and universities into a new corporation with the name "United Board for Christian Colleges in China"; by the end of the 1940s, the organization was working with thirteen Protestant Christian colleges in China: Fukien Christian University, Ginling College, Hangchow University, Huachung University, Hwa Nan College, Lingnan University, Nanking University, St. John's University, Shanghai, University of Shanghai, Shantung Christian University, Soochow University, West China Union University, and Yenching University.[1][2][3]
When the Chinese Communist Revolution left the Board unable to continue work in China after 1951, the organization devoted its activities to other areas, supporting Tunghai University in Taiwan[4][5] and Chung Chi College in Hong Kong.[6] It provided assistance to International Christian University in Japan, Yonsei University in Korea, and Silliman University in the Philippines. In the 1970s, it began work with institutions in Thailand, Indonesia, India, and several other countries, and changed its name to the present United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia.[7]
When diplomatic relations between the United States and China resumed, the organization was invited to return to China in 1980. In the 1990s, it established relationships with institutions in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar, and in the 2000s with institutions in Timor Leste, Macau, and Sri Lanka. The organization now works with both Christian and secular higher education institutions.
