在线大学为贫困学生提供教育机会

Online University Offers Poor Students a Chance 在线大学为贫困学生提供教育机会

Like many young people around the world, Emmanuel dreamed of getting a university education in the United States.

The 26-year-old only told VOA his first name because he is an undocumented immigrant. This means he does not have the official documents needed to enter, live in, or work in the U.S. legally.

Emmanuel came to the U.S. from Mexico five years ago. But, when he arrived, he discovered that his dream was much more difficult to achieve than he thought.

“First I had to learn English and realized that there were very few opportunities for me to really study into formal education in the United States.”

But then Emmanuel read about University of the People. University of the People is a university that has no tuition¹ costs. The university’s classes and teaching materials are all free online. Also, all of the teachers are volunteers.

Federal laws in the U.S. do not prevent undocumented immigrants from going to college. But laws do ban undocumented immigrants from receiving government financial aid.

The Pew Research Center is an organization that studies social issues around the world. The organization recently reported there were 11.3 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. in 2014. Of those, 49 percent were from Mexico.

Many undocumented immigrants like Emmanuel come to the U.S. with little money to pay for things like higher education. College Board is an organization that collects information and resources to make higher education more available.

The organization recently reported on the average cost of a four-year degree at both public and private U.S. universities.

The average cost at a public university is $9,410 for a resident of the state where the university is located. The average cost at a private university is $32,405.

College Board also reported that 69 percent of financial aid came from the U.S. government in 2014.

Emmanuel had no other choice, so he chose to study at University of the People. Quickly, he said, he believed that the university would give him the skills for a future in computer science.

Shai Reshef is the president of University of the People. He was born in Israel. Reshef made millions of dollars as the chief executive² officer of the Kidum Group. The Kidum Group was a company that helped students prepare for tests.

Reshef decided³ to create a tuition-free university after visiting several poor countries. People in those countries had limited higher education opportunities.

“We built a model to show universities, to show governments that the issue of higher education can be solved. Higher education can be accessible, can be affordable⁴, can be high-quality and shouldn’t leave anyone behind.”

Currently⁵, the University of the People only offers degrees in computer science and business administration. Though tuition is free, the university does require students to pay a $50 application fee. Also, the university requires students to pay a $100 test fee when they complete a class.

The total cost for a four-year degree is $4,000. But the university does offer scholarships.

Students must be at least 18 years old. They must be highly skilled in English. Students must also have completed high school.

The university has students from 170 countries. Refugees⁶ are among the university’s student population. Reshef also said that almost 25 percent of the students are undocumented immigrants.

To help these students, the University of the People works with other schools such as New York University, Oxford⁷ University and Yale University.

University of the People also works with companies like Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard. Some of these partners provide students with financial help. Other partners offer students internships.

The Distance Education Accrediting⁸ Commission⁹ or DEAC is a U.S. organization that reviews the quality of online schools and schools without physical classrooms. The DEAC approved the University of the People’s quality of education in 2014.

Emmanuel said he misses seeing and working with other students in a classroom. But he does love working with students in many countries online.

“It helps me to realize that I’m not limited to just staying in one country.”

There are more than 2,500 students studying with the University of the People. The university expects that number to double next year.

Massive¹⁰ Open Online Courses or MOOCs are free online classes that universities all over the world provide. Stanford University began offering free MOOCs in 2006. Oxford University began offering free online classes in 2009.

But, these classes are not part of a degree program.

Words in This Story

realize(d) – v. to understand or become aware of something

opportunities – n. amounts of time or a situations in which something can be done

formal – adj. received in a school

resident – n. someone who lives in a particular place

scholarship(s) – n. money that a government, school or organization gives or loans to students to help pay for their education

tuition – n. money that is paid to a school for the right to study there

online – adj. done over the Internet

accessible – adj. able to be used or obtained

affordable – adj. able to be paid for at a low cost

application – n. a formal and usually written request for something

internship(s) – n. a period of time when a student or recent graduate works at a job in order to get experience

1 tuition   

n.（某一学科的）教学，讲授，指导，学费

参考例句：

• Students can apply for individual tuition.学生可以申请个别指导。
• Is this money enough for the tuition fee?这些钱交学费够吗？

2 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

5 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

6 refugees   

n.避难者，难民( refugee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The UN has begun making airdrops of food to refugees. 联合国已开始向难民空投食物。
• They claimed they were political refugees and not economic migrants. 他们宣称自己是政治难民，不是经济移民。

7 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

8 accrediting   

v.相信( accredit的现在分词 )；委托；委任；把…归结于

参考例句：

• One accrediting agency is the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. 有一个资信鉴定机构是为了高等教育的。 来自互联网
• One accrediting agency is Council for Higher Education Accreditation. 高等教育授权委员会就是这样一个授权机构。 来自互联网

9 commission   

n.委托，授权，委员会，拥金，回扣，委任状

参考例句：

• The salesman can get commission on everything he sells.这个售货员能得到所售每件货物的佣金。
• The commission is made up of five people,including two women.委员会由五人组成，其中包括两名妇女。

10 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。