Oprah Winfrey Will Close South Africa Girls School and Shift to Scholarships in 2027

Oprah Winfrey is preparing to close the South African girls school that became one of the most visible education projects of her public life, shifting the work from a single residential campus to a wider scholarship model. AP reported on 31 July that the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls will close at the end of 2027, nearly two decades after it opened near Johannesburg. The school was founded in 2007 after Winfrey's conversations with Nelson Mandela about the power of educating girls, and it has since become a global reference point in discussions about private philanthropy, girls' education and leadership pathways.

The move is not being framed as a withdrawal from girls' education. According to AP, the school said the campus was always intended to be handed to the Gauteng provincial education department under the original agreement. Winfrey's education work will now continue through an expanded national scholarship program for academically talented South African girls at leading schools across the country. That distinction matters. Closing a campus can look like the end of a project, but the new model suggests a founder changing the delivery system while trying to keep the underlying mission alive.

For SheMeansNews readers, the founder angle is central. Winfrey did not simply lend her name to the academy. Her charitable foundation funded and operated it, and the school grew from a personal promise and a strategic belief that education could alter the course of young women's lives. Founder-led institutions often face this problem after their first era: how to preserve mission, standards and trust when the original form no longer seems like the best way to scale impact. Winfrey's answer is to move from ownership of one elite campus toward scholarships that can reach more students across more schools.

The academy's record gives the transition weight. AP reported that more than 500 girls have graduated from the school, with some going on to universities in South Africa, the United States and Europe. The 52-acre campus includes classrooms, science and computer laboratories, a library and a theatre, according to the same report. Gauteng's education minister said current students would be able to complete their education with uninterrupted financial support. That continuity is the most immediate test of the transition, because students and families should not carry the risk of institutional redesign.

The decision also invites a wider question about how women's education projects should measure success. A prestigious boarding school can transform the lives of a limited group of students, create a powerful alumni network and draw attention to a policy problem. A scholarship model may reach more girls, but it depends on the quality and accountability of partner schools. The practical challenge will be whether the expanded program can maintain the academy's support standards while spreading opportunity more broadly.

There is also a governance lesson here. Founder-led social projects can become too dependent on the founder's direct funding, public profile or personal oversight. Planned handover and program evolution are therefore not side issues; they are part of impact. If Winfrey's scholarship program doubles access while keeping students supported, the closure may become a case study in founder succession rather than a story of retreat. If the handover is confusing or students lose support, it will show how fragile philanthropic infrastructure can be. For now, the confirmed news is clear: the school campus is closing after 2027, the education mission is continuing, and the next test is whether scholarships can carry the founder's original promise into a broader national model.