Oprah Winfrey's South African school for girls will CLOSE after 20 years in operation

By BRIAN MARKS, US ASSISTANT SHOWBUSINESS EDITOR Published: 01:13, 30 July 2026 | Updated: 01:21, 30 July 2026 Oprah Winfrey has revealed that the girls' school she established in South Africa will be closing its doors after nearly two decades. The 72-year-old talk show host announced in a statement to the Daily Mail on Wednesday that the school – which is located in the South of Johannesburg – would transition to the control of the local Gauteng Department of Education after closing at the end of 2027. In place of the school, Winfrey – who recently revealed the biggest mistake of her decades-long career – said she planned to keep her mission alive by focusing on scholarship programs that she said could benefit even more young girls.  'The dream was never simply to build a school,' Winfrey declared. 'It was to invest in the limitless potential of young women.  'That mission doesn’t end with one campus. It continues in every girl whose future can be transformed through education,' she continued. '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's representative added that her scholarship program would allow her to double the number of young students who would have access to education. Oprah Winfrey has revealed that the girls' school she established in South Africa will be closing its doors after nearly two decades The 72-year-old talk show host announced in a statement to the Daily Mail on Wednesday that the school would transition to the control of local officials after closing its doors at the end of 2027 The school now plans to graduate two more classes of students before the remaining girls still attending the school would continue to have their education paid for in full by Winfrey through their graduation as they transferred to 'other top-tier schools.' Despite her assurances that her new scholarship program will benefit many more students overall, Winfrey's statement failed to clarify what had prompted the decision to close her school after nearly 20 years. According to Winfrey's representative, the school has seen remarkable success since its founding.  They noted that an independent study commissioned in 2024 had reportedly determined that 99 percent of surveyed graduates went on to pursue higher education. The study also found that nearly nine in ten graduates said the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls gave them opportunities that would have otherwise been inaccessible to them, while 94 percent said education had a positive impact on their families.  According to Winfrey's representative, the Gauteng MEC for Education, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Lebogang Maile, expressed his appreciation for Winfrey's contribution to the province. He also said her impact had extended well beyond the walls of the academy and would continue to be felt for years to come.  The seeds of Winfrey's plans to start a school for girls began with a December 2000 visit with former South African president Nelson Mandela, who died in 2013. 'The dream was never simply to build a school,' Winfrey declared. 'It was to invest in the limitless potential of young women,' she said 'That mission doesn’t end with one campus. It continues in every girl whose future can be transformed through education,' Winfrey continued. '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's representative added that her scholarship program would allow her to double the number of young students who would have access to education The seeds of Winfrey's plans to start a school for girls began with a December 2000 visit with former South African president Nelson Mandela. Two years later, they broke ground on the site of the future academy (pictured) Two years later, Winfrey and Mandela joined forces with then-Minister of Education, Professor Kader Asmal, to break ground on the site of what would become the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls.  The school was at first a public–private partnership with the Gauteng Department of Education, but it later was reconstituted as an independent school in 2006.  The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation, through personal donations from the talk show host, went on to contribute more than $400 million to the school.  It wasn't until 2007 that the academy opened, and it graduated its first class of 72 girls in January 2012.  By the time the academy marks its 20th anniversary in 2027 – the same year it plans to close – nearly 900 girls will have graduated. The school faced a scandal in its first year when a dorm matron was accused in 2007 of abusing multiple students.  At the time, Winfrey called the incident 'the most devastating experience of my life.' 'What I know is, is that no one – not the accused nor any persons – can destroy the dream that I have held and the dream that each girl continues to hold for herself at this school,' she said in a 2007 press conference, via People.