UoPeople is the first non-profit, tuition-free, accredited online institution in the United States. UoPeople, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing worldwide access to higher education, assists high school graduates in overcoming financial, geographic, political, and personal barriers to college study. According to UNESCO, by 2025, approximately 100 million young people would be unable to enroll in regular colleges. UoPeople believes that access to higher education is a fundamental right that supports global peace and economic prosperity, and it is devoted to provide those young people with a high-quality, tuition-free education.

UoPeople was formed in 2009 and received accreditation in February 2014. The University provides certifications, associate and bachelor's degree programs in Business Administration, Computer Science, and Health Science, as well as master's degree programs in Business Administration, Information Technology, and Education. The University of the People in Arabic was established in 2020, offering associate and bachelor's degrees in Business Administration while also providing rigorous English-language courses to Arabic-speaking students. Currently, over 126,000 students from over 200 nations and territories are registered. Around 16,500 of these pupils are refugees.

Thousands of volunteers work at UoPeople, including its Founder and President, Shai Reshef, as well as the eminent members of its international boards of trustees and advisers and professors. The President's Council is made up of two dozen leaders from the world's most prestigious organizations (see here for the full list). Almost 35,000 professionals have volunteered for leadership positions such as provost, dean, administrator, or professor.

UoPeople has created a scalable and sustainable platform to help the millions of people whose skill and creativity are being lost today. Courses are often taught online to groups of 20-30 students who study the content together under the supervision of a teaching member. A bachelor's degree takes 40 courses to be completed. Each nine-week course is based on a curriculum derived from Open Educational Resources (OER) content, so no textbooks or supplies are required. The only time a student is required to pay is at the end of a course. There is an assessment cost of $120 for an undergraduate course, $200 for a certificate program course, and $300 for a graduate-level course for those who can afford it.

This charge, which is waived if a student can demonstrate that he or she cannot afford it, contributes to the university's running costs, allowing UoPeople to stay viable and ultra-low cost.

UoPeople works with the Universities of Edinburgh, Effat University, Long Island University, McGill University, and New York University. Each of these colleges used UoPeople to find bright individuals to whom they offered admission and considerable financial assistance. UoPeople not only gives its students with a high-quality education, but also an opportunity to exhibit their skill and preparation for positions in the student bodies of the world's top institutions. Moreover, UoPeople has teamed with Harvard Business School Online to provide UoPeople students with access to Harvard's online courses. At graduation, 92% of UoPeople graduates are hired, including with firms such as Amazon, Apple, Dell, Deloitte, IBM, Microsoft, and JP Morgan, as well as organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank.

Individuals and foundations such as the Gates, Hewlett, and Ford Foundations, Fondation Hoffmann, and others contribute to UoPeople. The New York Times, BBC, NPR, The Today Show, Times Higher Education, US News and World Report, and other publications have covered the Institution. President Reshef's TED Talk and Nas Daily interview on the University have received a total of 30 million views.