(CNN) — As millions of students across the world go back to school this month, 178 students from 49 countries will turn on their computers and step onto the virtual campus of the world’s first global, tuition-free online university.
Called University of the People, the non-profit, California-based endeavor comes from Israeli entrepreneur Shai Reshef who says he founded the school to provide higher education to those who might otherwise never have access to it.
“Our mission is to change people’s lives,” said Reshef, who also is the chairman of Cramster.com, an online study community for college students.
Starting in 1989, Reshef served as the head of Kidum Group, an educational services company based in Israel, which he sold to Kaplan, one of the world’s largest test preparation companies, in 2005. He also chaired an online university affiliated with the University of Liverpool.
“We want to be an option for people who don’t have any other option,” he said.
