UNIVERSITY OF THE PEOPLE RECEIVES OFFICIAL ACCREDITATION FROM DEAC

UNIVERSITY OF THE PEOPLE RECEIVES OFFICIAL ACCREDITATION FROM DEAC

February 14 ,2014
Accreditation validates continued emergence of innovative, low-cost approaches to high-quality education on a global scale

PASADENA, Calif. – 14 February 2014 – University of the People (UoPeople) today announced its official accreditation by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC), marking a major milestone for the world’s first non-profit, tuition-free, online academic institution and representing a significant breakthrough for alternative education models and innovative learning environments. Dedicated to the democratization of higher education, the university believes accreditation not only will help increase its capacity to serve more students, but inspire other institutions to offer greater global access to low-cost, high-quality education.

“Accreditation is critical to UoPeople’s mission, attesting to the quality of education for our prospective students and their prospective employers,” said Shai Reshef, founder & president, UoPeople. “We have pursued this stamp of approval since day one, and are confident it will help pave the way for greater adoption of alternative models in education across the globe.”

UoPeople currently has 700 students enrolled, but now that it has received accreditation from the DETC, a national accrediting group, Mr. Reshef expects the university to expand significantly. He’s anticipating it will grow to have 5,000 students by 2016.

“With the development of technology, we now can provide a quality higher education to able students in the United States and around the globe who, until now, did not have available to them the possibility of a college or university degree,” said John Sexton, NYU President and the Chairman of UoPeople’s President’s Council. “It’s thrilling to think that with this accreditation, more students, employers and leaders will begin to recognize the worth of a UoPeople degree.”

About University of the People:

Founded in 2009, UoPeople enables students otherwise excluded from higher education due to financial, geographic, societal or personal constraints to attain an accredited business administration or computer science degree through an extremely low cost (tuition-free) and highly scalable model. Utilizing peer-to-peer learning, a robust volunteer base and nominal admission and examination fees, the non-profit organization has enrolled approximately 700 students to date, expecting to increase its student body to 5,000 by 2016. For more information, prospective students and donors can visit https://www.uopeople.org.

For further information, please contact:
Joel Staley
Edelman for University of the People
Joel.staley@edelman.com
+01 (407) 377-6645