Oprah Winfrey has announced that the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG) in Henley-on-Klip, Gauteng, will close its residential campus at the end of the 2027 academic year. The tuition-free school, which opened in January 2007 in partnership with former President Nelson Mandela, was created to provide academically gifted girls from disadvantaged backgrounds with access to world-class education. Over the past two decades, the academy has produced more than 1,000 graduates who have gone on to successful careers around the world.
The closure of the boarding campus does not mark the end of Oprah’s investment in education in South Africa. Instead, it represents a new direction. Winfrey said her vision has always been bigger than one school, with the goal of empowering young women across the country.
Rather than operating a single residential academy, the organization will launch an expanded national scholarship program. The initiative aims to double its impact by funding the education and support of talented girls at leading schools across South Africa.
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As part of the original agreement signed in the early 2000s, the academy’s campus will be handed over to the Gauteng Department of Education. Provincial officials have praised Winfrey’s contribution and confirmed that the facilities will continue to serve local learners, ensuring the academy’s legacy lives on.
The academy also confirmed that all current students will continue receiving full academic, financial and personal support until they complete Grade 12. Families of younger students are being assisted with placements at other schools, while mentorship, leadership development and higher education support for OWLAG’s global alumnae network will continue as the organization begins its next chapter.
