Key Takeaways
- Oprah Winfrey will close the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa after the 2027 academic year and shift her foundation’s resources to a nationwide scholarship program she says will “reach even more young women” and double the number of girls accessing education.
- The academy, which faced early scandals including abuse allegations, a defamation lawsuit, and student misconduct cases, ultimately rebuilt its reputation with a 100% graduation rate and more than 1,000 alumnae, nearly all of whom pursued higher education and reported life-changing impacts for their families.
- The campus will be handed over to Gauteng’s Department of Education to continue operating as a school, while current students will finish their studies at other top-tier institutions with fully covered tuition before the expanded scholarship initiative launches.
Oprah Winfrey is closing the chapter on one of the most ambitious—and controversial—projects of her career. Nearly 20 years after opening the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, the media mogul announced that the boarding school will cease operating after the 2027 academic year as her foundation shifts its focus to a nationwide scholarship program aimed at reaching significantly more students.
According to People, the decision marks the end of an institution that survived early scandals, legal battles, and years of public scrutiny before emerging as one of South Africa's most successful schools for disadvantaged young women. Rather than continue running a single campus, Winfrey said her next investment in education will have a broader reach.
"The dream was never simply to build a school. It was to invest in the limitless potential of young women," Winfrey said in a statement. "My mission doesn't end with one campus. It continues in every girl whose future can be transformed through education."
The academy will graduate its final two classes before the campus is transferred to South Africa's Gauteng Department of Education, which will continue operating the facility as a school. Students still enrolled will complete their education at other top-tier schools with tuition fully covered by Winfrey's foundation.
Afterward, the organization will launch an expanded scholarship initiative. According to a spokesperson, "overall, there will be double the amount of girls who will have access to education through this model."
The announcement lands nearly two decades after the academy's rocky debut. Just months after opening in 2007, the school was engulfed in an international scandal when dorm matron Tiny Virginia Makopo was accused of physically and sexually abusing several students.
The allegations prompted Winfrey—who has spoken publicly about surviving childhood abuse—to fly to South Africa, apologize to parents, suspend school leadership, and overhaul campus operations.
Makopo was later acquitted of all 14 criminal charges in 2010, a verdict Winfrey said left her "profoundly disappointed," though she praised the students who testified.
The fallout didn't end there. Former headmistress Nomvuyo Mzamane sued Winfrey for defamation after being dismissed during the investigation, arguing that the television icon's public comments damaged her reputation and career. The lawsuit was ultimately settled out of court.
The academy also weathered criticism over its strict boarding-school rules, a 2009 student misconduct scandal involving allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate touching among classmates, and a 2011 police investigation after a student secretly gave birth and the infant was later found dead.
No charges were ultimately filed against the teenager.
Despite those headline-grabbing controversies, the academy steadily rebuilt its reputation. More than 1,000 girls have graduated since 2007, and the school says nearly all surveyed alumni went on to pursue higher education while reporting that their education transformed not only their own lives but their families' futures.
The school also maintained a 100% matric rate, an achievement that stood in sharp contrast to the turbulence that often surrounded it.
"I'm excited that this next chapter will allow us to reach even more young women across South Africa and continue the promise that began more than 20 years ago," Winfrey said.
