Lesson 26: Goal-Setting, Part 11, College, Fast and Cheap
How much should you pay for college? You can do it for less than what I have already said. This university came after my 2006 video.
From Wikipedia:
University of the People (UoPeople) is a non-profit online institution of higher education headquartered in Pasadena, California, United States. It currently offers degree programs in business administration and computer science, and is the only OER (open educational resources) university in the world. The school is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission.
History
Educational entrepreneur Shai Reshef launched University of the People in January 2009. Its first cohorts started studying in September 2009, when 177 students from 49 countries across the globe comprised the inaugural class of the University.
The Information Society Project at Yale Law School (Yale ISP) expanded its program in digital education by entering into a research partnership with University of the People in September 2009.
The university was announced at the UN on May 19, 2009, and was presented at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in August 2010.
In June 2011, University of the People established collaboration with New York University (NYU) to identify UoPeople students who are eligible for admission to one of the most selective institutions in the world – NYU Abu Dhabi.
In August 2013, Microsoft 4Afrika announced a scholarship program to give 1,000 students from Africa scholarships to study at UoPeople, as well as access to Microsoft programs and resources.
University of the People received accreditation in February 2014, through the Distance Education Accrediting Commission.[5][10]
In May 2014, The Bayelsa State Government of Nigeria entered a partnership with University of the People in a milestone agreement, the University’s first government agreement, which will support students towards achieving Bachelor Degrees in Computer Science or Business Administration.[11]
By May 2014, the University had accepted more than 1700 students from 143 countries.
Organization and administration
The University is led by a board of trustees and its council of presidents.
UoPeople has gained widespread support of leading academics with its President’s Council. The Council is chaired by New York University President John Sexton and includes UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks, Director of the Indian Institute of Technology (ITT) Professor Devang Khakhar, Oxford Vice-Chancellor Sir Colin Lucas, President Emeritus of RISD Roger Mandle, President Emeritus at Barnard College Judith R. Shapiro and President Emeritus of The George Washington University Stephen Joel Trachtenberg.
The University’s structure is based on a pool of more than 3000 volunteers, some of which fill various positions at every rank of the University. These volunteers are supported by a small paid staff.
University of the People uses instructor support combined with learning by teaching and peer-to-peer learning. The university uses online discussion forums and online communities in order for students to cover readings, share resources, exchange ideas and discuss assigned questions. Scholars, professors, librarians, master level students and other professionals–many of them volunteers–oversee and participate in both the assessment process and the development of curricula.
UoPeople Students also have access to the UoPeople Library & Resource Center (ULRC), a virtual environment delivered through the University course site. The Center’s collections are primarily proprietary academic resources but also include open educational resources.[13]
Academic programs
University of the People offers the following four undergraduate degrees:
Bachelor of Science Degree (B.S.) in Business Administration
Associate of Science Degree (A.S.) in Business Administration
Bachelor of Science Degree (B.S.) in Computer Science
Associate of Science Degree (A.S.) in Computer ScienceUoPeople is the only OER university in the world, i.e. every course makes use of open educational resources and students don’t need to pay for any textbooks.
Tuition
Students pay a registration fee on a sliding scale of $10 to $50 determined by income and country of residence. University of the People requires a tuition to be paid in the form of a $100 administration fee for each exam a student takes.[14] To complete an Associate degree (A.S.), a student must take 20 exams and 40 exams for a Bachelor Degree, which costs a total of $2,000 and $4,000 respectively. Students who cannot afford to pay can apply for scholarships.
There are other cheap universities, but this is the cheapest.
This lady received a scholarship. I recommended that she not take it.
Gary North, “Dear Miss V.” Download here.
She ignored my advice. She still plays the piano marvelously. She got a degree from an obscure private university, but she had no job offers at graduation. If she had taken my advice, she would have a successful painting business, plus a college degree from an online accredited college.
She was typical. Bright, talented teenagers are seduced by the lure of a college scholarship. A college scholarship in the humanities means this: “four wasted years.” I am not speaking of engineering or pre-med. I am speaking of English, history, philosopy, political science, sociology, and a dozen other majors. But maybe not young child development. That can lead to a daycare. Miss V’s father makes more money as an owner of day cares than he makes as a dental surgeon — way more.