San-Francisco-based online platform StudyFree has announced an expansion to five developing markets to allow international students to access scholarships and grants for global education opportunities.
The platform will now be open for students from South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Brazil, India – countries that StudyFree has identified with having wide gaps between demand for quality education and existing offerings.
“StudyFree is actively growing in our mission to take the edtech industry to the next level by putting students at the centre of the business model,” said Dasha Kroshkina, StudyFree CEO and founder.
“We work to democratise higher education experience for students across the world.”
Currently, the platform offers more than 100,000 degree programs worldwide, scholarships opportunities worth $90bn and a user base of 50,000 students globally, it added.
To date, students have already received $10.3m in scholarships and grants to study at institutions in the US, Canada, Europe and Asia via the platform.
“Our platform opens a whole new scholarship market for 25 million students worldwide”
The new markets have “challenges” meeting demand for higher education meaning prospective students require access to quality and affordable education, StudyFree added.
Despite high second school completion rates, India has a lack of access to higher education, quality and accountability.
Demographic shifts, with an estimated 400 million aged 18-24 in India and 720 million people under the age 25 in Africa, add to the challenge of accessing higher education opportunities, the company noted.
“Our platform opens a whole new scholarship market for 25 million students worldwide and by entering five new markets, we’re creating unparalleled educational opportunities to more students around the globe,” Kroshkina concluded.
