Kiron is based in Germany, Jordan, and Lebanon but has learners from all over the world. Since 2015, 70,000 students have registered on the Kiron Campus.

Age and gender: The majority of our students are between 22 and 35 years of age. Students between 26 and 29 form the biggest group. Kiron students are predominantly male.

Country of origin and of residence: 68% of Kiron students come from four countries - Syria (47%), Afghanistan (12%), Somalia (5%) and Pakistan (4%). Almost half of our students (41%) are based in Germany.

The top courses are Computer Science, English, Graphic Design, and Business.

Kiron is not building on any former initiative. Unlike other online educational providers, Kiron assembles Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) into modules based on learning outcomes and thus forming coherent core curricula in five different higher education study tracks for refugees. Eventually, our students can transfer to a partner university and have Kiron Credits recognised. Kiron focuses therefore on technology and sources (MOOCs) combining them to form coherent curricula which fulfil the standards defined for the European Higher Education Area. These MOOCs are built into modules which all carry specific learning outcomes and workloads. Kiron seeks recognition of these modules.

Building and managing partnerships with corporations, foundations, governmental organisations, and MOOC platforms are the crucial elements of Kiron’s successful operations.

As a social tech start-up dealing with the issue of refugee education through the Coursera for Refugees programme, Kiron has become one of the beneficiaries: Kiron students have been granted access to all Coursera courses and the possibility to finish the courses with verified certificates free of charge.

Kiron Open Higher Education became a member of the global edX community on 6 June 2017. Since April 2016 edX has been offering free verified certificates for online courses to Kiron and now their partnership is extending further. Through the launch of KironX, the educational platform, Kiron - along with its partners - will produce online courses hosted on edX in order to increase access to high-quality education for refugees.

Together with corporate partners, Kiron co-creates programs to prepare refugees for job market integration. Whether it's through digital skills training, internship placements, or mentoring programs, Kiron aims to create a sustainable and scalable ecosystem.

Kiron is already developing internationally and aims to offer a sustainable worldwide approach to accessing higher education for disadvantaged groups. The notions of replication and scalability are at the heart of the Kiron model, which provides online content accessible from anywhere in the world.

Kiron has diverse revenue streams that include public financing, partnerships with foundations and corporate companies, as well as donations. A sustainable business model, such as a reversed generation contract, is implemented to secure long-term funding for our activities and guarantees the sustainable development of our organisation. Having been built as a bottom-up initiative of young EU citizens, volunteers are the backbone of Kiron´s success. Currently Kiron is the transition phase from a volunteer-based social start-up towards a professional international organisation.

Kiron combines various funding sources to allow free access for refugees. In order to sustain operations, Kiron raises funds from different sectors. Current funding streams are governments and foundations (65%), corporate sector (30%) and private individual donations (5%). Funding obtained through governmental, international, and EU grants as well as donations, make up the largest portion of Kiron’s funding today.

To cover the programme costs and ensure free access for our students, Kiron relies on financial support from the public and private sectors.