Diamond Mountain is a Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

an Buddhist

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

 seminary

Seminary

A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...

 and retreat center located south of Bowie, Arizona

Bowie, Arizona

Bowie is an unincorporated community in Cochise County, Arizona. The community lies on Interstate 10 in eastern Arizona close to the western New Mexico border...

 in the Sonoran Desert

Sonoran Desert

The Sonoran Desert is a North American desert which straddles part of the United States-Mexico border and covers large parts of the U.S. states of Arizona and California and the northwest Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. It is one of the largest and hottest...

. Oriented towards the Gelugpa school, it was founded by Geshe

Geshe

Geshe is a Tibetan Buddhist academic degree for monks...

 Michael Roach

Michael Roach

Michael Roach is an American teacher of Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelugpa school, and was the first Westerner to qualify for the Geshe degree at Sera Monastery in India. He received the degree after twenty-two years of training in both India and abroad...

 in 2000 and opened to students in September 2004. It is not an accredited university. The 1000 acres (4 km²) site was purchased in October 2001 and was formerly known as "Bear Springs Ranch".

Diamond Mountain is run by volunteers as a not-for-profit organization and does not charge tuition. Its official mission statement reads:

“Our mission at Diamond Mountain is to provide you with everything you need to lead a wise and good life, and to become nothing less than a being who can go to all worlds and serve all living creatures, all at once. To get you there, we take you through all the traditional training that a monk or yogi would get in a demanding, major monastery in Tibet or ancient India.”

Diamond Mountain holds three five-week academic terms per year on its campus, and additional classes in Tucson, Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...

. Diamond Mountain is affiliated with the Asian Classics Institute of New York City.