PASADENA, Calif., June 19, 2012 – University of the People is thrilled to announce its work toward accreditation has been recognized with a $500,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
UoPeople is the world’s tuition-free, non-profit, online academic institution dedicated to opening the gates to higher education for all those currently constrained access due to financial, geographic, societal or personal constraints. UoPeople seeks to better the lives of many disadvantaged individuals around the world by providing them a tuition-free educational opportunity. To date, more than 1500 students from over 130 countries have been accepted to the University.
“We are working very hard on the attainment of accreditation, and are extremely proud of having the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation partnering with us in this quest. Accreditation is important for us, our students and our graduates to as it will afford students significantly better employment prospects upon graduation - thus further improving their lives,” said Shai Reshef, President of UoPeople.
“UoPeople is a part of an emerging set of programs and institutions that is challenging the status quo and effectively meeting non-traditional student needs by leveraging innovative pedagogical and business practices and providing affordable, quality paths to postsecondary credentials. We are proud to be a part of the next major step for UoPeople: attaining accreditation,” said Anh Nguyen, Senior Program Officer on the foundation’s Postsecondary Success team.
In addition to providing direct financial assistance, the grant further demonstrates the ever-growing support by foundations, academia and individuals around the world for UoPeople’s work and attainment of accreditation.
The announcement of UoPeople’s grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation follows recent awards by the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Intel Foundation.
Additionally, this announcement follows the University release regarding the establishment of the UoPeople Presidents Council, comprised of university presidents from top-tier universities. Distinguished members of the UoPeople Presidents Council include Oxford Vice Chancellor Emeritus Sir Colin Lucas; New York University President John Sexton; Rector Emeritus Mrs. Michele Gendreau-Massaloux, Head of Research and Higher Education, Union of the Mediterranean; Professor Devang Khakhar, Director of the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay; and George Washington University President Emeritus Steve Trachtenberg.
And finally, University of the People, as of June 2012, celebrated the realization that more than 1,000,000 individuals have voiced support of the University on Facebook.
For more information, visit http://www.uopeople.org
About University of the People
University of the People (UoPeople; www.UoPeople.org) is the world’s first tuition-free, non-profit, online academic institution. Based on the principles of e-learning and peer-to-peer learning, coupled with open-source technology and Open Educational Resources, UoPeople is designed to provide access to college studies for qualified individuals, despite financial, geographic or societal constraints. Founded in 2009 by educational entrepreneur Shai Reshef, UoPeople has partnered with Yale University for research, New York University to accept students and Hewlett-Packard for internships. The organization has accepted more than 1500 students from 130 countries to date; gained the widespread support of leading academics; garnered a supporter base of over 1,000,000 supporters on Facebook; as well as the attention of media throughout the world. UoPeople is a registered U.S. nonprofit 501(c)(3).
