UoPeople Offering 250 College Scholarships to Haitian Students Following Devastating Earthquake

To Provide the Educational Skills Needed to Rebuild their Country’s Battered Economy

PASADENA, CA (August 20, 2021) – To help the Haitian people recover from Saturday’s devastating earthquake and provide them with the educational skills needed to rebuild their country’s battered economy, University of the People (UoPeople) is offering 250 full scholarships to students in Haiti to study at the online institution.

The death toll from the 7.2-magnitude earthquake has climbed to 1,941, according to the country’s civil protection agency and nearly 10,000 people were injured. UNICEF estimates that 1.2 million Haitians have been affected, including 540,000 children, and that more than 84,000 houses have been damaged or destroyed.
“As part of our long-term commitment to Haiti, University of the People is offering a ray of hope for the future to its people,” said UoPeople President Shai Reshef. “Providing much-need higher education opportunities are the best way to help the Haitian people better their lives and rebuild their economy.”

Founded in 2009, UoPeople is the first non-profit, tuition-free, American-accredited, online university dedicated to providing access to higher education globally to help qualified high school graduates overcome the financial, geographic, political, and personal constraints keeping them from university studies.

Following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti that killed an estimated 300,000 people, UoPeople also offered 250 scholarships to empower the Haitian people and support the country’s recovery efforts. Joe Jean, one of the students who received a scholarship in 2010, went on to earn his bachelor’s degree at UoPeople and then received a full scholarship to study at NYU Abu Dhabi – one of the most selective universities in the world.

“When the earthquake came, we lost even the little we had,” said Jean. “During the intensely difficult post-earthquake period, I discovered that I could study for free online at University of the People. It all felt like a dream, too good to be true.”

UoPeople, which is a virtual university offering only online classes, saw its enrollment jump this past year from 36,526 to 75,390 students from more than 200 countries. Students from the Caribbean number around 6,000.

To quality for one of the 250 scholarships being offered in Haiti, students must be high school graduates and meet the English language proficiency requirements. For more information about UoPeople or to apply for one of the scholarships for Haitian students, visit https://www.uopeople.edu/become-student/.

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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 75,000 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 associate and bachelor’s degree programs in business administration, computer science, and health science, as well as an MBA and M.Ed. program. 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, New York University, McGill University, and the University of Edinburgh and is supported by foundations such as the Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation and Hewlett Foundation. Learn more at www.uopeople.edu