The Inter American University of Puerto Rico is a private, nonprofit institution of higher education with deep Christian roots. For more than 100 years, not only has the INTER prepared its students in all branches of humanistic, social and scientific knowledge, but it has also acted as a bridge between North American and Latin American cultures.
The Reverend John Will Harris founded the institution in 1912 as the Polytechnic Institute of Puerto Rico in the Lomas de Santa Marta sector of San Germán, Puerto Rico. The institution was originally an elementary and secondary school. Today, the site is home to the INTER’s San Germán Campus.
The first class graduated from the Bachelor’s Degree in 1927.
In 1944, the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools accredited the INTER, making it the first liberal arts college in Puerto Rico, as well as outside of the continental United States, to receive this accreditation. The INTER has maintained this accreditation through the years.
The University offers academic programs in its eleven campuses, specifically: the campuses of Aguadilla, Arecibo, Barranquitas, Bayamón, Fajardo, Guayama, Inter Metro, Ponce, and San Germán; and its two professional schools, the School of Optometry and the School of Law.
At present, the INTER has an enrollment of over 40,000 students. This number represents 21% of all university students in Puerto Rico as well as 35% of university students enrolled in private institutions on the island