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University of the People President Shai Reshef and Provost David Cohen
University of the People was started by Shai Reshef in January 2009.[2] The university has no campus due to its online distance learning nature; it uses a shared office in California as an office of admission.[3]
The first UoPeople students began classes in September 2009, studying for associate and bachelor's degrees in business administration and computer science.
In February 2012, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded the University of the People a grant of $613,282 for the purpose of helping the university earn national accreditation.[4] Two years later, the university was accredited for degree-granting programs through the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC).[5][6]
In 2016, the university began offering an online MBA.[7]
In 2017, the University of Edinburgh partnered with the school so that Health Science graduates of the University of the People could complete a bachelor's at UE.[8]
In 2018, the university announced the new online Master of Education in Advanced Teaching in collaboration with the International Baccalaureate.[9] This new program started taking in students in 2019. IB started to offer 80 scholarships for eligible M.Ed. students in 2020.[10]
In 2020, the UNESCO launched the "Global Education Coalition" in response to the Covid 19 pandemic.[14] The University became a member of this coalition.[15]
University of the People received candidate status in June 2021 with WASC Senior College and University Commission.[16] According to WASC, "Candidacy indicates that the institution meets all or nearly all the Standards at a minimum level. Candidacy is not accreditation and does not ensure eventual accreditation".[17]
University of the People Education Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary[note 2] which provides support services to the institution.[note 3] The subsidiary is registered with the Israeli Corporations Authority[18] and maintains an office in Tel Aviv, Israel.[note 4]
According to the University of the People, the university charges no tuition fees but students must pay some administrative fees to cover course assessments, ranging from $2,460 for an associate's degree (two years) to $4,860 for a bachelor's degree (four years).[19] These include processing fees for applications.
^"Here's how you can score a tuition-free MBA". make it. CNBC. September 18, 2017. Archived from the original on February 7, 2023. Retrieved February 7, 2023. The university later introduced a health science track and then a graduate business degree in 2016.
^"هل تريد أن تصبح طالباً؟" [Do you want to be a student?]. ar.uopeople.edu (in Arabic). Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
^"In Brief". UoPeople. Archived from the original on September 5, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2020.