Nationwide — Oprah Winfrey announced that her South African girls’ academy will close its current operations by the end of 2027. She shares plans to move toward a larger scholarship program, allowing more young women across the country to receive educational support.
The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy of Girls opened in 2007 with the goal of supporting young women with academic opportunities and leadership training. Winfrey said the school was never only about creating a single campus but about investing in the future of girls.
“The dream was never simply to build a school. It was to invest in the limitless potential of young women,” Oprah said in a statement, according to People.
The academy will graduate two more classes before closing under its current structure. Afterward, the provincial government will take over the facility and continue operating it as a school.
Students who remain at the academy will be moved to other “top-tier schools,” with Winfrey paying their tuition until they graduate. According to her representative, the new scholarship program will eventually allow twice as many girls to receive educational support compared with the academy’s current model.
Since opening nearly two decades ago, the academy has graduated more than 1,000 young women from disadvantaged communities in South Africa. A study cited by the school found that most surveyed graduates continued their education and said the experience positively affected their families.
Winfrey personally invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the academy over the years. The school also faced an early setback when a former staff member was accused of abuse, though the individual was later acquitted.
Winfrey said the academy’s mission will continue beyond the school’s closure. She said the expanded scholarship program will help carry forward the work that began when the academy first opened more than 20 years ago.