As the economic downturn presses on with full force, the demand for more advanced-level degrees is increasing. Legislators and educational insiders alike have been devising ways to democratize higher education so the needs of more individuals can be better served. The online education format is burgeoning in popularity, for it works in conjunction with the philosophy of making higher education universally accessible. Online universities allow working professionals, parents, or any person who finds themselves too busy to attend college in a traditional classroom setting to obtain their degree in a timely and convenient fashion.
According to the New York Times, Shai Reshef—an Israeli man who has quite a bit of experience working in the world of higher education—proposes to deliver the world’s first international tuition-free online university, aptly titled University of the People. Reshef, who previously served as chairman of an Israeli test preparation company that was sold to Kaplan and built an online university affiliated with the University of Liverpool, plans to launch an educational platform that would be convenient for people to access while liberating them from the burden of tuition.
The University of the People is indeed an exciting concept, but one that has been met with skepticism. John Bourne, executive director of the Sloan Consortium, told the New York Times that he is “Interested to know how [Reshef could] find and train faculty and ensure quality without tuition money.” Reshef plans to power the university through the usage of online discussion forums, assignment and exam postings, and study groups, in addition to the work of paid and volunteer professors and master’s students who would construct and manage curricula. Students would pay small enrollment fees that would vary depending on whether the student lives in a poor or wealthy country. Reshef has the financial resources to provide a large part of the startup costs, and plans to start small with the expectation of “building enrollment to 10,000 over five years.”
Reshef is confident that this concept, which blends online social networking with education, will successfully deliver college degrees to students around the world. “I haven’t found even one person who says it’s a bad idea,” he told the New York Times. Let’s hope that Reshef’s determination to successfully execute this concept pays off, for it could potentially translate to a more educated and interdependent global community.
