Krüger Foundation to Support Scholarship Program for Burmese Students

Krüger Foundation to Support Scholarship Program for Burmese Students

Lausanne/Switzerland, 3 July 2014 –The Krüger Foundation announced a USD 40,000 grant to enable the University of the People (UoPeople) to establish a scholarship program for Burmese students. The grant provides full scholarships for ten promising students in Myanmar to study at a leading US-based online university. The Krüger Myanmar Scholarship Program will cover the costs of a four-year Bachelor’s program in either Business Administration or Computer Science. The purpose is to help meet the demand for opportunities for motivated Burmese students as well as for higher skills in the local economy.

Ten Burmese students will be provided with the opportunity to access education, and to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in the program of their choice, beginning in September 2014. Interested applicants may apply for scholarship support upon admission to the University of the People and before they commence their classes.

“Our support for University of the People is meant to leverage the power of online learning by establishing a dedicated scholarship program for improving access to education in Myanmar,” said Mr. Christian Krüger, impact investor and founder of the Krüger Foundation. “The hope is that some of these students will also be inspired and adequately educated to further assist with the redevelopment and economic prosperity of their communities,“ said Krüger at the Impact Economy Symposium and Retreat on June 14, 2014.

Myanmar was one of the four focus countries at this year`s Impact Economy Symposium & Retreat, which took place from June 13-15 in Switzerland, hosted by Krüger + Co. Dr Maximilian Martin, the organizer of the event and Founder and Global Managing Director of Impact Economy, identified the EMICs including Myanmar as countries with exceptional potential for inclusive growth and modernization. The EMICs include Ethiopia, Iran, and Colombia in addition to Myanmar, and represent a group of high-stakes catalytic countries.

“In one of our sessions at the Symposium that was dedicated to Myanmar, the importance of education and access to it for all members of society was again emphasized as a key to success in sustainable modernization. Impact Economy is delighted to see the Krüger Foundation addressing this need,” said Dr Martin.

At a time when Myanmar’s enthusiasm to catch up with its neighbours is at an all-time high, the country nevertheless needs to overcome a number of constraints that are standing in the way of a sustainable middle-income future. Building more domestic human capital will help lay the needed foundation in Myanmar. College and university students everywhere are increasingly finding themselves with additional obligations beyond just studying for a degree, including financial independence and family commitments.

UoPeople is an accredited degree-granting online university that provides tertiary education courses for students in 143 countries.As the entire world transitions to an information society, online (or e-learning) technologies using modern communications, computers, digital technology, and the internet are increasingly providing a scalable and cost-effective way to make the benefits of education accessible to all.

“We are thrilled to partner with the Krüger Foundation in order to sponsor a group of Burmese students towards their Bachelor’s degrees at University of the People,” said Shai Reshef, Founder and President of UoPeople. “We hope that others will follow the example set by the Krüger Foundation and join us in our mission to democratize higher education across the globe,” said Reshef.

In making this grant, theKrüger Foundation expands its longstanding effort to provide access to opportunity for youth in Asia, a footprint that will now include Myanmar.

The Krüger Foundation is a Swiss charitable foundation exclusively pursuing benevolent purposes. The foundation finances specific projects with the goal of improving social welfare, and is active in a range of social and environmental issues. The Foundation actively seeks projects through a variety of channels but does not accept unsolicited grant proposals.

The University of the People (UoPeople) is the world’s first non-profit, tuition-free, accredited, online academic institution dedicated to opening access to higher education globally for all qualified individuals; regardless of financial, geographic or societal constraints.

Impact Economy is a global impact investing and strategy firm headquartered in Switzerland, with overseas operations in North and South America. Our teams on three continents provide strategy advisory, investment services and corresponding research to companies and professional investors.

For more information, please contact:

University of the People

Phone: +1 (626) 264-8880

University of the People
Office of Admissions
225 S. Lake Ave., Suite 300
Pasadena, CA 91101, USA