The University of the People (Tuition-Free / Low Cost) Free Online University

Since the rise of the internet I always heard of projects of online universities, virtual universities, online only universities and even FREE online universities. But every time the end result was disappointing, with some of those projects either ridiculously very expensive, not accredited or the project simply gets cancelled for funding issues.

So that is why when I heard about the UOP “University of the People” I was not that shocked, and I just thought it will be the same old story, big idea with disappointing implementation. And don’t get me wrong it still might lead to that result, who knows? But this time this feels a bit different.

Few years ago many universities made their course materials available online for free, video lectures, audio lectures, slides, notes and even assignments. The leading university who took this bold move was MIT “Massachusetts Institute of Technology”. Many other universities followed MIT’s lead such as Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, UCLA, Yale, Washington and many more.

The University of the People is a non-profit university, its main goal is to give the chance of higher education to all people around the world for free or very low prices. The university is mostly comprised of volunteers, professors, librarians, master level students, computer programmers and professionals. 

The university is still not accredited, but this is normal as it is just starting and it needs to follow number of rules and get evaluated to be able to get accredited. The university is going to be offering two undergraduate degrees, a BA in Business Administration and a BSc in Computer Science. More bachelors degrees and masters degrees such as MBA is expected to be added in later stages.

The university is accepting now applications from students around the world, but in the start they will only accept 300 students, the plan is to reach to 10 thousand enrollments within 5 years. The fees are minimal, for enrollment it will range between $15 to $50, and for exams between $10 to $100, it all depends on where you are living.

On the 24th of April 2009 the UOP started accepting enrollment applications, and on 14th of May 2009 a new website will be launched. 30th of June 2009 the enrollment deadline for the fall semester. 20th of July 2009 the notice of acceptance to UOP orientation courses. 9th of September 2009 the Fall Semester starts.

At the moment the best way to contact the university is via email, although they provide a phone number but you will have to be very very very lucky to get a human to talk to you, 99% of the time you will be forwarded to voice mail. You should get a quick reply to your email during the weekdays.

One reason a lot of people are optimistic for this to work is that the peer-to-peer learning experience actually exists online, according to a survey by the Sloan Consortium (a nonprofit group devoted to integrating online learning into mainstream higher education) around 4 million students in USA took an online course in 2007. The founder of UOP sensed the power of peer to peer learning while working on www.cramster.com which is an online study community that offers help for students on their college homework and assignments.

Of course if the right tools are available and the community is well built and the professionals are there to help, this could be a dream come true, this could revolutionize online education. But for this to fully succeed a lot of factors should work together perfectly to reach to the kind of success this kind of idea deserves. Many people who are eager to study and get higher education will be happy to hear this news, people who missed out on education, this could be their second chance. This could change lives, we just have to wait and see.

Comments May 8th, 2009

Wa2el Gom3a loaned to Alseleya Club in Qatar !!

Al Ahly rock in the backline was loaned to Alseleya Club in Qatar, the defender will be playing for them from January 2008 to the end of the season. Although Al-Ahly havent announced any information on the price, but it has been known that the club offered 180 thousand dollars to loan the player.

To be honest as an Ahly fan i just don’t understand what the board is trying to achieve this season, or actually are they trying to achieve anything. Selling Mohammed Shawqy earlier this season to Middlesbrough in the english league and now loaning Gom3a to Alseleyea. These are big mistakes everybody knows that Al-Ahly has suffered from selling their star defensive midfielder and now loaning their only real rock in the backline.

My Advice to Al-Ahly board is one thing, go buy players, we need at least 3 new players and you know it, we need a striker and a defensive midfielder and an attacking midfielder. Abu treka had enough already, the man is overloaded, we always expect him to be 100% ready in each and every freakin match. He is not a machine you know he is a human and the day will come when he just wont be able to take it anymore. And that day is not at all far.

Al-Ahly board, spend from some of the profits you got, you have the money, stop being greedy and buy new player before its too late.

Comments November 15th, 2007