History and Growth
Educational entrepreneur Shai Reshef launched University of the People in January 2009. The non-profit University structures the operations and delivery of its higher education programs using a low-cost model. The means of operation and delivery draw on a number of recent trends in e-learning and e-commerce, including open-source technology and open educational resources that provide access to educational material from U.S. institutions; global dissemination of information under an e-learning model; and peer-to-peer learning that leverages the knowledge of students and applies it social networking. The University also emphasizes an asynchronous-learning model in which students are free to study according to their own schedules, making it easier to accommodate students from different time zones and whose access to resources such as broadband Internet access or even electricity may be limited.
In September 2009, UoPeople admitted 180 students from 49 countries in its first semester of enrollment. By July 2010, the University’s enrollment included approximately 500 students from nearly 100 countries. As of June 2012, the University has admitted more than 1500 students from 135 countries. The University's Facebook page has over 1,000,000 supporters.
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