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]