Villa College is the first private higher education institution of the Maldives. In 2007, it was founded by Hon. Dr. Qasim Ibrahim, Chairman of the Villa group, through the Private-Public Partnership Agreement with the government. From just 54 students in four classrooms, the College has since then expanded significantly, becoming the first in the country to offer franchise programmes through partnerships.

Open University of Malaysia (OUM) was the first international partner of Villa College, having contributed to creating the brand of Villa College in the community. In 2015, a new partnership with the University of the West of England (UWE) was established, which has proved to be the most fruitful partnership for the College. Since then, the College has signed to collaborate with numerous universities, the most recent most significant one being the agreement signed with Taylor’s University, which will introduce Culinary Arts as a new field of studies offered by Villa College. In the last few years, the variety of programmes Villa College offers has expanded immensely, offering programmes from high demand areas such as Masters in Counseling, and also offering programmes from niche areas such as Art and Design. Villa College will continue to strive towards meeting not only the needs of the society, but also the interests of the community.