University of the People


University of the People is a private not-for-profit, distance education university with its office in Pasadena, California. It was founded by entrepreneur Shai Reshef in 2009.

History

University of the People was launched by educational entrepreneur Shai Reshef in January 2009. Although the university has no campus due to its online distance learning nature, it uses a shared office in California as an office of admission.
The first UoPeople students began classes in September 2009, studying for associate and bachelor's degrees in business administration and computer science. At that time, the school had no accreditation and did not charge any fees or tuition.
In February 2012, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded the University of the People a grant of $613,282 for the purposes of helping the university earn national accreditation. This work paid off two years later when the university gained accreditation for degree-granting programs through the Distance Education Accrediting Commission.
In March 2016, the university began offering an online MBA, with the course itself beginning in September 2016. The MBA is not accredited by any business school accreditation bodies.
In 2017, the University of Edinburgh partnered with the school so that graduates of the University of the People could complete a bachelor's or postgraduate degree at the University. That same year, Olympian Simone Biles became a student and a spokeswoman for the school, and in 2018 she set up a scholarship fund to help financially struggling students.
In January 2019, International Baccalaureate partnered with the University of the People to offer a Master's of Education in Advanced Teaching. In April 2019 it was announced in the World Economic Forum that the University of the People will be also launched in Arabic.
Beginning in January 2020, International Baccalaureate offers scholarships to students who are interested in attending the UoPeople M.Ed. program.

Accreditation

University of the People is nationally accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission. It is also approved by the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education. Currently it has no regional accreditation.

Rankings

In July 2020, University of the People was ranked 5,784 in the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities.

Fees

University of the People charges no tuition fees, but students must pay some administrative fees to cover course assessments. These include processing fees for applications and final exam assessments; however, students who cannot afford the administrative costs may be eligible for scholarships. Furthermore, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees the University of the People offers scholarships for refugees.