Economic and geographic constraints exclude millions of people from higher education. With the aid of technological developments and the help of volunteers, however, access to a tuition-free online education is within reach courtesy of University of the People.
University of the People is a nonprofit venture that is beginning to revolutionize higher education by providing universal access to tuition-free online education, even in the poorest areas of the world.
With a few keystrokes, UoPeople takes the concept of social networking and applies it to academia, providing a global classroom for all students that seek access to online higher education. Shai Reshef, UoPeople President and Founder, credits open-source technology and the increasing access to the Internet in making tuition-free, online education available to people all around the world.
Online learning is a growing trend in the United States of America. According to a survey by the Sloan Consortium, approximately 4 million students are currently enrolled in online education in the United States. As a tuition-free online education service, UoPeople takes the concept of e-learning to an unprecedentedly broader and global audience.
UoPeople operates on a limited budget without sacrificing the quality of education by employing collaborative and open-source e-learning. UoPeople embraces peer-based and collaborative learning to provide university-level programs to a global student body. Within the online study communities, students share resources, exchange ideas, discuss weekly topics, submit assignments and take exams.
A community of educators comprised of active and retired professors, librarians, master-level students and other professionals participate in the educational activity and oversee the assessment process of this tuition-free online education model.
UoPeople offers tuition-free education, and plans to charge in the future only nominal Application and Exam Administration fees ($10-$50 and $10-$100 respectively) that could be adjusted on a sliding scale based on the economic situation in each student’s country or place of residence.
UoPeople is open to accept applications from applicants who submit a certificate of graduation from secondary school, demonstrate proficiency in English and have access to a computer and to an Internet connection.
