An ultra-low-cost college degree | Shai Reshef

翻译人员: Ye Lin 校对人员: fangfang guo

我想和你们分享

I would like to share with you a new model of higher education,

一种全新的高等教育模式

a model that, once expanded,

这一模式一旦发展起来

can enhance the collective intelligence

能提升数以百万计的有创造力和上进心的个人

of millions of creative and motivated individuals

的集体智慧，

而没有这一模式的话这些人可能会被甩在后面

that otherwise would be left behind.

看看这个世界

Look at the world.

任选一个地方并聚焦于此

Pick a place and focus on it.

You will find humans chasing higher education.

你会发现人们正在追寻高等教育

让我们来认识其中的一些人

Let's meet some of them.

帕特里克

Patrick.

Patrick was born in Liberia to a family of 20 children.

帕特里克出生于利比里亚

一个有20个孩子的家庭

在内战期间，他和他的家庭

During the civil war,

he and his family were forced to flee to Nigeria.

被迫逃离去尼日利亚

There, in spite of his situation,

在那里，尽管处境恶劣，

he graduated high school with nearly perfect grades.

他依然以近乎满分的成绩高中毕业

He wanted to continue to higher education,

他想要继续接受高等教育，

but due to his family living on the poverty line,

但是由于他的家庭

生活在贫困线上，

he was soon sent to South Africa

他不久后被送至南非工作，

寄钱回家

to work and send back money to feed his family.

供养他的家人

Patrick never gave up his dream of higher education.

帕特里克从未放弃他的高等教育之梦

Late at night, after work,

结束工作后的深夜里，

he surfed the net, looking for ways to study.

他在网上寻找各种途径来学习

Meet Debbie.

来认识一下黛比

黛比来自佛罗里达

Debbie is from Florida.

Her parents didn't go to college, and neither did any of her siblings.

她的父母没有上过大学，

她的兄弟姐妹也都没有

Debbie has worked all her life,

黛比生活的全部就是工作，

pays taxes, supports herself month to month,

缴税，每月维持自己的生计，

proud of the American dream,

以美国梦为荣，

a dream that just won't be complete without higher education.

但是没有高等教育的话

这个梦并不完整

But Debbie doesn't have the savings for higher education.

但是黛比没有足够的积蓄

来负担高等教育

She can't pay the tuition.

她付不起学费

Neither could she leave work.

她也不能抛开工作

来认识一下瓦伊尔

Meet Wael.

Wael is from Syria.

瓦伊尔来自叙利亚

He's experiencing firsthand

他正亲身感受着

the misery, fear and failure imposed on his country.

他的国家所遭受的

痛苦、恐惧和失败

He's a big believer in education.

他是教育的忠实信徒

He knew that if he could find an opportunity for higher education,

他知道，如果他能找到

接受高等教育的机会，

an opportunity to get ahead of the rest,

一个能超过别人的机会，

他就更有可能

he has a better chance to survive in a world turned upside down.

在一个颠倒混乱的世界里生存下来

The higher education system

高等教育体系

failed Patrick, Debbie and Wael,

辜负了帕特里克、黛比和瓦伊尔，

exactly as it is failing millions of potential students --

正如它也辜负了

数百万的潜在的学生——

millions that graduate high school,

数百万的高中毕业生，

millions that are qualified for higher education,

数百万有资格接受高等教育的学生，

millions that want to study yet cannot access it for various reasons.

数百万学生想要学习

却因为各种原因无法实现

First: financial.

首先，经济上的原因

Universities are expensive; we all know it.

大学是昂贵的 我们都知道这一点

In large parts of the world,

在世界上的很多地方，

higher education is unattainable for an average citizen.

对于普通民众来说，

高等教育无法企及

This is probably the biggest problem facing our society.

这个可能是我们社会

所面临的最大的问题

Higher education stopped being a right for all

高等教育不再是所有人的权力，

and became a privilege for the few.

而是成为一种少数人的特权

Second: cultural.

第二，文化上的原因

合格的、能负担得起的、想要学习的学生

Students who are qualified for higher education

can afford -- want to study -- cannot,

却无法得到高等教育，

because it is not decent, it is not a place for a woman.

因为它不得体，

它不是女人可以去的地方

比如，在非洲，

This is the story of countless women in Africa, for example,

无数的女性

prevented from higher education because of cultural barriers.

由于文化上的阻隔

而无法得到高等教育

And here comes the third reason:

第三条原因：

UNESCO stated that in 2025,

联合国教科文组织声明，

100 million students will be deprived of higher education,

到2025年，将有1亿学生

被剥夺高等教育的机会，

simply because there will not be enough seats to accommodate them,

仅仅是因为没有那么多的座位

来容纳他们，来满足需求

to meet the demand.

They will take a placement test, they will pass it,

他们会参加程度测验，

他们会通过测验，

but they still won't have access, because there are no places available.

但是他们仍无法得到教育，

因为没有足够的位置

These are the reasons I founded University of the People,

由于这些的原因，

我创办了人民大学（University of the People），

一所非盈利性的、免学费的、

a nonprofit, tuition-free, degree-granting university

授予学位的大学

它提供了另一种选择，

to give an alternative,

to create an alternative, to those who have no other;

为那些没有其它选择的人创造了一种选择，

an alternative that will be affordable and scalable,

一种价格合理的选择，

一种可扩展的选择，

an alternative that will disrupt the current education system,

一种打破

现行的教育体系的选择，

and open the gates to higher education for every qualified student

为每一位合格的学生

打开高等教育的大门，

regardless of what they earn, where they live,

不论他们的收入，不论他们身处何处，

or what society says about them.

不论社会如何议论他们

Patrick, Debbie and Wael

帕特里克、黛比和瓦伊尔

are only three examples out of the 1,700 accepted students

只是来自143个国家的

1700位被录取的学生中

from 143 countries.

的三个例子

我们——（掌声）——谢谢

(Applause)

Thank you.

(Applause)

We didn't need to reinvent the wheel.

我们不需要重新发明轮子

We just looked at what wasn't working

我们只是看到那些有问题的地方，

and used the amazing power of the Internet

并使用互联网的神奇力量

to get around it.

来绕开问题

We set out to build a model

我们着手建立一种模式，

that will cut down almost entirely the cost of higher education.

它将削减掉

高等教育的绝大部分成本

And that's how we did it.

我们是这样做到的

First, bricks and mortar cost money.

首先，大楼需要花钱

大学有很多的开销

Universities have expenses that virtual universities don't.

是虚拟大学所没有的

We don't need to pass these expenses on to our students.

我们不需要将这些开销

转移到我们的学生头上

这些开销不存在

They don't exist.

We also don't need to worry about capacity.

我们也不需要担心可容纳的人数

There are no limits of seats in virtual university.

在虚拟大学里

没有座位数的限制

Actually, nobody needs to stand at the back of the lecture hall.

事实上，没人需要

站在讲堂的后面

Textbooks are also something our students don't need to buy.

我们的学生

也不需要购买课本

By using open educational resources

使用开放的教学资源

and the generosity of professors

以及教授们的慷慨馈赠，

who are putting their material up free and accessible,

很多教授把他们的教学材料

免费公开，

we don't need to send our students to buy textbooks.

我们不需要让我们的学生去购买课本

All of our materials come free.

我们所有的材料都是免费的

Even professors,

甚至是教授，

the most expensive line in any university balance sheet,

任何大学的收支表上最昂贵的一项，

come free to our students.

也对我们的学生免费

Over 3,000 of them,

我们有超过3000位教师，

including presidents, vice chancellors, professors and academic advisers

包括校长、副校长、

教授和学术导师，

from top universities such as NYU, Yale, Berkeley and Oxford,

他们来自顶尖的大学，比如纽约大学、

耶鲁大学、加州大学伯克利分校、牛津大学，

came on board to help our students.

来帮助我们的学生

Finally, is our belief in peer-to-peer learning.

最后，是我们对于同伴学习的信念

We use this sound pedagogical model

我们使用这个可靠的教学模式

to encourage our students from all over the world

来鼓励我们来自世界各地的学生

to interact and study together,

一起互动并共同学习，

and also to reduce the time our professors need

这同时也缩短了教授们

需要花在课堂作业上的时间

to labor over class assignments.

如果说互联网把我们变成了一个地球村，

If the Internet has made us a global village,

this model can develop its future leadership.

这一模式能培养其未来的领导力量

Look how we do it.

看看我们如何做到这一点

We only offer two programs:

我们只提供了两个项目：

business administration and computer science,

商业管理和计算机科学

the two programs most in demand worldwide,

这两个项目

是世界上需求最广的，

the two programs that are likeliest to help our students find a job.

这两个项目最有可能

帮助我们的学生找到工作

When our students are accepted,

当我们的学生被录取后，

they are placed in a small classroom of 20 to 30 students,

他们被安排到

由20至30人组成的小班

to ensure that those who need personalized attention get it.

来保证那些有个性化需求的学生可以得到相应的关注

Moreover, for every nine-week course, they meet a new peer,

此外，每九周的课程

他们会认识一个新的同伴，

a whole new set of students from all over the world.

一组来自世界各地的

全新的同学

Every week, when they go into the classroom,

每周，当他们进入课堂，

they find the lecture notes of the week,

他们会找到本周的课程笔记、

the reading assignment, the homework assignment,

阅读任务、课外作业，

and the discussion question, which is the core of our studies.

以及讨论问题——

这是我们学习的核心

Every week, every student must contribute to the class discussion,

每周，每位学生

都必须为课堂讨论做出贡献，

and also must comment on the contribution of others.

同时也必须对其它人的贡献

做出评论

This way, we open our students' minds,

通过这样的方法，我们开阔了学生的思维，

we develop a positive shift in attitude toward different cultures.

我们发展了一种正面积极的态度

来对待不同的文化

By the end of each week, the students take a quiz,

每周结束的时候，

学生们参加一个测验，

hand in their homework,

提交他们的课外作业，

which are assessed by their peers under the supervision of the instructors,

作业会在教师的监督下

由同学互相评估，

get a grade, move to the next week.

得到成绩，然后继续下一周的学习

By the end of the course, they take the final exam,

在课程的末尾，他们参加期末考试，

get a grade, and follow to the next course.

得到成绩，然后开始下一个课程

We open the gates for higher education for every qualified student.

我们为每一个合格的学生

打开了高等教育的大门

Every student with a high school diploma,

每个学生，只要有高中文凭、

sufficient English and Internet connection

足够的英语能力和互联网连接，

can study with us.

就可以和我们一起学习

We don't use audio, we don't use video.

我们不使用音频和视频

Broadband is not necessary.

宽带网络不是必须的

Any student from any part of the world with any Internet connection

来自世界任何一个地方的任何一个学生

只要能连接到互联网

can study with us.

就可以和我们一起学习

We are tuition free.

我们没有学费

我们的学生只需要负担

All we ask our students to cover is the cost of their exams,

考试的成本，

100 dollars per exam.

每门考试100美元。

A full-time bachelor's degree student taking 40 courses

一个全日制本科学位的学生

选修40门课，

will pay 1,000 dollars a year,

每年将支付1000美元，

4,000 dollars for the entire degree.

整个学位需要4000美元

And for those who cannot afford even this,

对于连这些也无法负担的学生，

we offer them a variety of scholarships.

我们提供了各种类型的奖学金

It is our mission that nobody will be left behind

没有人会因为经济上的原因而被抛下，

for financial reasons.

这是我们的使命

With 5,000 students in 2016, this model is financially sustainable.

到2016年，随着5000名学生，

这一模式在经济上是可持续的。

Five years ago, it was a vision.

五年前这还是一个畅想，

Today, it is a reality.

而今它成为了现实

Last month, we got the ultimate academic endorsement to our model.

上个月，我们的模式

得到了学术界的最终认可

University of the People is now fully accredited.

人民大学现在已完全通过认证

(Applause)

（掌声）

谢谢。

Thank you.

(Applause)

With this accreditation, it's our time now to scale up.

有了这一认证，

现在到了我们扩张的时候

We have demonstrated that our model works.

我们已经展示了我们的模式是可行的

我邀请大学，更重要的是

I invite universities and, even more important,

developing countries' governments,

发展中国家的政府，

来复制这一模式，

to replicate this model

来保证高等教育的大门

to ensure that the gates of higher education will open widely.

将一直敞开

A new era is coming --

一个新的时代来临了，

an era that will witness the disruption of the higher education model

这个时代将会见证

我们今天所知的高等教育模式

as we know it today,

的瓦解，

from being a privilege for the few

从一种少数人的特权

to becoming a basic right, affordable and accessible for all.

变为一种基本权力，

所有人都可以承担，可以获得

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）