The new course joins associates and bachelor’s programmes in business administration and computer science, which currently have around 3,000 students from 180 countries.

“The cost of an MBA today is so expensive, that many people who are qualified to achieve it cannot afford it”

Like the existing courses, students will pay an end of course assessment fee of $200 for each of the 12 modules in the MBA, totalling $2,400 for the 15-month programme.

UoPeople decided to launch the programme in response to huge demand in the jobs market for MBA graduates and an awareness that there are many qualified candidates that are priced out of these courses, according to UoPeople’s president, Shai Reshef.

“The cost of an MBA today is so expensive, that many people who are qualified to achieve it, cannot afford it,” he commented. “UoPeople was set up to open the gates to higher education and to give an opportunity to those who don’t have it.

“Launching the world’s most cost-effective MBA was a natural progression for the university, and hopefully, it will pave the way for other universities to follow.”

The programme is now accepting applications for the course, which will begin teaching in September.

There will be 100 students in the initial cohort, a number which is expected to grow in future intakes.

The new programme is headed by Russell Winer, professor of marketing at the Stern School of Business, New York University, with the help of volunteers including Gabriel Hawawini of INSEAD and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Stephan Chambers of Oxford Saïd Business School, and Alex Tuzhilin of NYU Stern School of Business.