OUR FREE ONLINE DEGREE AGENDA

"Education, just like democracy, should be a right, not a privilege,” said Shai Reshef, Founder and President, University of the People. “With a few keystrokes, UoPeople takes the concept of social networking and applies it to academia, providing a global chalkboard for all students.”

 

Distance learning is a growing trend around the world. In the U.S., approximately 4 million students are currently enrolled in online education. UoPeople will provide an unprecedented tuition-free online academic experience to a worldwide–audience.

Completing programs similar in scope to programs that offer academic degrees has become a real and existing opportunity at University of the People. University of the People provides access to structured, tuition free online degree-level programs in Business Administration and Computer Science, . UoPeople accepts any qualified applicant who has graduated from high school, has access to a computer and Internet and has sufficient English skills to complete the English-only courses. Essentially, UoPeople provides those who complete their program with the equivalent of a tuition free online degree.
Obtaining tuition free online degrees is not a straightforward process. Social networking and helping each other is a big part of the UoPeople credo.  Peer-to-peer learning forms part of the overall learning and grading system. Students are required to participate in discussions and answer questions posed by the faculty and other students in their groups and forums.
The corresponding tuition free online degree offered by UoPeople functions effectively on a limited budget without sacrificing quality of education by encouraging collaborative learning and using open-source e-learning principles. UoPeople embraces peer-to-peer teaching to make the best use of a student body from around the world. Within online study communities, students share resources, exchange ideas, discuss weekly topics, submit assignments and take exams. The programs are supported by respected scholars.

A community of educators comprised of active and retired professors, and other professionals participate in the educational activity. They also take part in developing the ongoing procedures for curriculum evaluation and development.

In the future, UoPeople plans to award tuition free online degrees and to charge nominal application and assessment processing fees ($15-$50 and $10-$100 respectively) that may be adjusted on a sliding scale based on the economic situation of each student’s country or place of residence.