United Nation launches world's first free online university

By David M Williams
Monday, 15 June 2009 06:04

Home IT

For hundreds of millions of people around the world higher education is no more than a dream. The United Nations hope to make this dream a reality with their global tuition-free online University.

The United Nations Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technology and Development (GAID) has made available the University of the People, a non-profit institution that offers higher education for the masses.

This differs from the existing United Nations University which was created in 1969 specifically to address global problems, and is housed in Tokyo.

University of the People founder, Shai Reshef, says people around the world “are constrained by finances, the lack of institutions in their region, or they are not able to leave home to study at a university for personal reasons.”

Reshef says the University of the People will open the gates to anyone who desires to study provided they have a high school diploma or regional equivalent and a sufficient level of English. There are no other requirements.

The United Nations are keeping costs as low as possible, and cite key factors being the use of open-source technology, open course materials, e-learning methods and peer-to-peer teaching.

Consequently, the only charges to students are a one-off admission fee that ranges from $US 15 to $50 depending on the country of origin, plus a processing fee for each test, ranging from $US 10 to $100. At this time, application fees have been waived meaning enrolment is completely free. There is no charge to take classes or for online course materials.

So far some 200 students from 52 countries have already registered but Rashef says for the University to sustain its own operation it will need 15,000 students and $US 6m. Rashef has donated $US 1m of his own money to the project.

Students will be placed into classes of 20 and can log in to a weekly lecture as well as discuss the subject with peers and take tests online.

At this time there are two programs available, in Business Administration and Computer Science. The University also notes that it is not an accredited institution at this time, but future plans include a raft of more degrees including higher degrees.

Application processes are online at the University of the People with the slogan “Your opportunity is here. Take it.”