University of the People Launches First American, Online MBA Degree In Arabic

Pasadena, California – To expand access to affordable college education for Arabic-speaking students, University of the People (UoPeople) is the first American-accredited university to offer an online MBA degree taught completely in Arabic.

“UoPeople is proud to be the first U.S. university to offer an MBA degree taught fully online in Arabic. Our MBA program, which can be completed in a little as 12 months, has been designed to enable students to advance their careers or manage their own businesses,” said UoPeople President Shai Reshef, who recently received the Yidan Prize for Educational Development, known as the “Nobel Prize” of higher ed. “Our curriculum is based on a strong industry foundation and has been developed by top academic leaders to help students succeed.”

“The language barrier has long been an obstacle for many Arab students to earn a college degree but with the use of online technology we are able to take a major leap forward in achieving educational equity and increased access for people in the Arab world,” said Dr. Gabriel Hawawini, professor of business administration at UoPeople and the former dean of INSEAD.

“Online learning eliminates the need to travel for students who want to study at an American university. They do not need to leave their country, their family, or their job to earn a degree from an American university. Online education not only reduces the cost of earning a degree, it also eliminates the cost of transportation and housing. Even more important is the principle of educational equity, as many people who seek to study in the United States are unable to obtain visas.”

UoPeople’s MBA program is specifically designed for career development and business self-management. Students will learn how to build organizations and companies to gain a competitive advantage, manage team collaboration, and formulate effective business strategies.

The curriculum was carefully adapted into the Arabic language by a number of business education experts to preserve the quality of the academic programs while at the same time ensuring it would be compatible with the Arabic region and culture. In addition, academic lecturers come from different Arab countries, which increases academic diversity and thus familiarity with different business trends and research results from different Arab countries.

After a comprehensive review, the new MBA degree program in Arabic recently received accreditation from the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), which is authorized by the U.S. Department of Education. The university will launch the program on February 1.  

As a tuition-free online university, UoPeople offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional American universities by reducing the cost of earning a college degree by up to 95%.

UoPeople is launching the new MBA program following the tremendous success in recent years of its associate and bachelor’s degree programs in business administration taught in Arabic. The university currently enrolls more than 24,000 students in our Arabic programs.

Additional information about the MBA in Arabic program is available online.

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.