International Baccalaureate and UoPeople Renew Scholarship Partnership Program

Applications for the IB UoPeople Scholarship are now open to educators worldwide

WASHINGTON DC, May 29, 2024—The International Baccalaureate (IB) and the University of the People (UoPeople) have signed a renewed partnership, bringing new features to a scholarship program for educators created through their collaboration.

The IB offers international education programs for K-12 students while the UoPeople is a non-profit, fully online American university offering accredited degree options. Both organizations signed the agreement this April to continue the scholarship program to fund students attaining their Master of Education degree (M.Ed), established in 2018.

New to the partnership this year, the IB and UoPeople have committed to moving the M.Ed. program toward becoming an IB-recognized program of study, making students starting after this IB recognition eligible for the IB’s educator certificates upon completion.

This year, the application window will be open May 20-July 15 for IB teachers, non-IB teachers, and undergraduate students seeking to pursue their M.Ed through this scholarship program. Applicants must demonstrate a commitment to education, their local community, and the IB mission and pedagogy. These scholarships will help to tackle challenges faced by schools around the globe looking to recruit and retain experienced and knowledgeable teachers.

Olli-Pekka Heinonen, Director General of the IB, said, “We are proud to offer this scholarship program to help provide accessible education to future educators, growing the IB community by ensuring that scholars around the world can obtain their M.Ed.”

Shai Reshef, President of UoPeople said, “The IB’s continued support makes it possible to reach future educators who may not have inroads to an M.Ed, and this partnership removes a significant roadblock in that journey to becoming a teacher.”

To date, this program has awarded almost 350 scholarships to students from around the world, with many living in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and Egypt. More than 100 educators have earned the M.Ed. under this scholarship program, the vast majority of whom would not have been able to complete an advanced degree without this financial support.   

Together, the IB and UoPeople look to extend offers of 75 scholarships each year through the program, representing a collaborative effort and commitment to address the global shortage of quality educators worldwide, which in turn guaranteed access to quality education for more students. 

Applications for the IB UoPeople Scholarship are open from 28 May to 15 July 2024. For more information, please visit the IB website for details to apply. 

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About University of the People

University of the People (UoPeople) is the Education Revolution. It is the first non-profit, tuition-free, American-accredited online university. Currently, there are over 137,000 students from more than 200 countries and territories. 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. Graduates of UoPeople can be found working at such companies as Deloitte, Amazon, Apple, Pfizer, Google, Microsoft, and IBM. UoPeople collaborates with Harvard Business School Online, NYU Abu Dhabi, McGill University, and the University of Edinburgh and 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.

About International Baccalaureate

The International Baccalaureate (IB) offers four high-quality, challenging educational programs to students aged 3 to 19 years. We foster critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and value diversity, international mindedness, curiosity, and a healthy appetite for learning and excellence. An IB education is uniquely placed to provide students with distinct advantages as they enter a changing world where asking the right questions is as important as discovering answers. The IB pioneered a movement of international education for over 50 years, and today our global community of world class educators engage with more than 1.95 million students in more than 5,700 schools across 160 countries.