Shai Reshef

When I announced the University of the People, I knew what it takes to build a university because I had a university in Europe and I knew what it takes, which was a great plus because otherwise, what do you need in order to create a university?

When I announced the University of the People, I knew what it takes to build a university because I had a university in Europe and I knew what it takes, which was a great plus because otherwise, what do you need in order to create a university?

Second, from the very beginning, I had amazing people who came to help from our provost, who came from Columbia University and the vice provost, from deans who came from NYU and Princeton. And those people taught me what I need in order to build a university, and they built it. So most of the manpower was volunteers, which saves millions of dollars along the years. We did need capital.

Second, from the very beginning, I had amazing people who came to help from our provost, who came from Columbia University and the vice provost, from deans who came from NYU and Princeton. And those people taught me what I need in order to build a university, and they built it. So most of the manpower was volunteers, which saves millions of dollars along the years. We did need capital.

I invested some money originally, but we worked extremely fast because the idea was we are not going to become a regular university. We are going to give the students what they need in order to succeed, do it in the most efficient way that it can be done, and the fastest way. So I announced the university on the 27th of January. By April, we start enrolling students.

I invested some money originally, but we worked extremely fast because the idea was we are not going to become a regular university. We are going to give the students what they need in order to succeed, do it in the most efficient way that it can be done, and the fastest way. So I announced the university on the 27th of January. By April, we start enrolling students.

By September, we already started teaching. It was extremely fast. We built the courses while teaching. All were built by volunteers. And Technology, we use open source technology. So it was very, very fast and efficient. And luckily, I had amazing people on my side who did it.

By September, we already started teaching. It was extremely fast. We built the courses while teaching. All were built by volunteers. And Technology, we use open source technology. So it was very, very fast and efficient. And luckily, I had amazing people on my side who did it.

Well, the first time I met the accreditation agency, I felt like it's really easy because what they said, look, here are the standards. Just follow the standards and you can get accredited. Sure. Okay. Sounds very easy. I remember going out, calling to my co-CEO at KIT and say, wow, you know how easy it is to get accredited. You're just following the standards. It was a long road.

Well, the first time I met the accreditation agency, I felt like it's really easy because what they said, look, here are the standards. Just follow the standards and you can get accredited. Sure. Okay. Sounds very easy. I remember going out, calling to my co-CEO at KIT and say, wow, you know how easy it is to get accredited. You're just following the standards. It was a long road.

We received our initial accreditation in 2014 by the DEAC, stands for Distance Education Accreditation Commission, which is a national accreditation. A lot of the institutions are like ourselves for distance. And you need to meet a lot of standards because in order to get accredited, All your courses need to be evaluated, that they meet the standards.

We received our initial accreditation in 2014 by the DEAC, stands for Distance Education Accreditation Commission, which is a national accreditation. A lot of the institutions are like ourselves for distance. And you need to meet a lot of standards because in order to get accredited, All your courses need to be evaluated, that they meet the standards.

They need to see that you have all the procedures to accept the students, to serve the students, and to verify that they meet the standards. Then they check the learning outcomes. So it really checks every single element of your operation. It took us actually, you know, from 2010 or 11 when we started until 2014, when we got initially accredited, which was a huge thing for us.

They need to see that you have all the procedures to accept the students, to serve the students, and to verify that they meet the standards. Then they check the learning outcomes. So it really checks every single element of your operation. It took us actually, you know, from 2010 or 11 when we started until 2014, when we got initially accredited, which was a huge thing for us.

We had about 500 students when we had our initial accreditation. Now we have 153,000 10 years later. So it was a long, a long road. While having the DAC, which is a great accreditation, we get a lot of push from our students or requests from our students to get regional accreditation as well. Because in the U.S. system, there are national and there are regional.

We had about 500 students when we had our initial accreditation. Now we have 153,000 10 years later. So it was a long, a long road. While having the DAC, which is a great accreditation, we get a lot of push from our students or requests from our students to get regional accreditation as well. Because in the U.S. system, there are national and there are regional.

And regional, they are older, they are more traditional, and they are perceived by many as better accreditation. And, you know, we're there not for ourselves. We're there for our students. And if the students want, we need to do it. One of the challenges that we had with our initial accreditation is that, for example, Canada do not accept our accreditation for master level.

And regional, they are older, they are more traditional, and they are perceived by many as better accreditation. And, you know, we're there not for ourselves. We're there for our students. And if the students want, we need to do it. One of the challenges that we had with our initial accreditation is that, for example, Canada do not accept our accreditation for master level.

So there was a need for another accreditation. So for the last five years, we worked on another accreditation. And two weeks ago, we got it. It's WASC, stands for Western Accreditation Secondary Commission, which is a regional accreditation. And now we have the same accreditation as Stanford and Berkeley and UCLA. You can't get any higher academic accreditation in the U.S.,

So there was a need for another accreditation. So for the last five years, we worked on another accreditation. And two weeks ago, we got it. It's WASC, stands for Western Accreditation Secondary Commission, which is a regional accreditation. And now we have the same accreditation as Stanford and Berkeley and UCLA. You can't get any higher academic accreditation in the U.S.,