A hundred South Africans who cannot afford tertiary education stand a chance of winning a scholarship to the world's first tuition-free university.
The University of the People's president and founder, Shai Reshef, will be in South Africa this week to recruit for the scholarship.
The Israeli businessman started the non-profit, tuition-free, online university in 2009 to create free global access to higher education. He now wants to expand African access to tertiary education through Microsoft's 4Afrika scholarship programme.
"Increasing access in Africa to post-secondary education will have a significant effect on African youth. We believe that, by empowering them, we will enable them to take Africa to its rightful place on the world stage," Reshef said.
Students pay a one-off application fee of up to R513 and a R1026 exam fee for each subject. Microsoft covers these costs through its 4Afrika scholarships.
The scholarship is available for two degrees - associate of science in business administration, and associate of science in computer science.
The US university is still applying for accreditation but was granted permission by the California Bureau for Private Post-secondary Education, in August 2011, to award degrees.
The university has admitted 1500 students from 138 countries since it opened its doors. Currently it has 736 students, eight of whom are South African, according to its spokesman, Heather Third.
Applications can be made online at www.UoPeople.org/4afrika.
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