University of the People Pledges to Enroll 35,000 Refugees by 2030

Urges Global Universities to Take Action in Support of World Refugee Day

PASADENA, CA – As the global refugee crisis intensifies, University of the People (UoPeople), an American online university, is expanding its commitment to refugee education by pledging to enroll 35,000 refugees by 2030. The pledge, in recognition of World Refugee Day on June 20, significantly increases UoPeople’s previous commitment of enrolling 25,000 refugees by 2030.

UoPeople’s pledge is in support of the UNHCR’s 15by30 Initiative, which seeks to raise the number of refugee youth in higher education to 15%, which equates to 450,000 individuals, by 2030. Currently, only 7% of refugees have access to higher education, compared to 42% of their non-refugee peers.

In addition, UoPeople President Shai Reshef is urging every university across the globe to join the effort. “If each of the world’s 31,000 universities enrolled just 15 additional refugee students, we could close the higher education gap for refugees—and end this crisis. While we understand that no other university can make a pledge like ours, no university can say that they cannot enroll 15 refugee students.”

With over 18,500 refugees currently enrolled, UoPeople already serves more displaced students than any other university worldwide. Refugee students from war-torn and crisis-affected regions like Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen, are finding life-changing opportunity through UoPeople’s flexible, 100% online, tuition-free model, which currently serves 153,000 students from 209 countries.

“Higher education is proven to be a life changing resource for refugees to change their status,” Reshef said. “Providing higher education access for refugees can help these individuals transform their lives and the lives of those around them and contribute to the further development of societies and the global economy.”

About UoPeople

University of the People (UoPeople) is the first non-profit, tuition-free, American-accredited online university. Currently, there are 153,000 students from 209 countries and territories enrolled at the university. Designed to open access to higher education globally, UoPeople helps qualified high school graduates overcome financial, geographic, political, and personal constraints keeping them from collegiate studies. The university offers certificate, associate, and bachelor’s degree programs in business administration, computer science, and health science, as well as MBA, MSIT, and M.Ed. programs. UoPeople is accredited by both the WASC Senior College and University Commission and the Distance Education Accrediting Commission. Graduates of UoPeople can be found working at such companies as Deloitte, Amazon, Apple, Pfizer, Google, Microsoft, and IBM. UoPeople collaborates with world class institutions, including McGill University and the University of Edinburgh. In addition, it has been supported by foundations such as the Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Hewlett Foundation. UoPeople President Shai Reshef recently received the Yidan Prize for Educational Development, known as the “Nobel Prize” of higher ed. Learn more at www.uopeople.edu.