Low-cost online university gives thousands a chance to study

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Cao Tingting is gaining business knowledge online while finishing her doctoral degree at HKU. Photo: Edward Wong

Published: 7:00am, 23 Mar 2015Updated: 11:27pm, 23 Mar 2015

Whenever he has some free time, Chenwie Benatsus reaches for his books and engages in his favourite pastime - studying online.

The part-time salesman for an electronics factory in Dongguan, Guangdong, is among the thousands of students enrolled at the University of the People. Originally from Cameroon, Benatsus jumped at the chance to study for a degree in business administration after becoming aware of it. "I was searching on the internet for an affordable online university and discovered it," he says, cheerfully, adding: "It's just too good to be true."

He was filled with excitement when he found out that it is tuition-free.

Set up in 2009 by American entrepreneur Shai Reshef, the university has admitted more than 2,500 students from more than 150 countries, and lately gained accreditation from the Distance Education and Training Council, a non-profit national agency in the US specialising in the accreditation of distance education institutions.

Former chairman of Kidum Group, a for-profit educational services company, and of KIT eLearning, the online learning partner of the University of Liverpool and the first online university outside of the US, Reshef has emerged as a game-changer by offering higher education for free.

Having to work during the day, Benatsus would not have been able to study at a bricks-and-mortar institution; other online universities also were too expensive. UoPeople charges only an examination fee of US$100 per course, which amounts to about US$4,000 for an entire degree.