With the growing demand for education in India by both Indian as well as foreign students, almost every state today has at least two to three open universities. These universities are either run by the stated education department or by corporates. Here are details about some of the highly reputed open universities in different Indian states. Almost all of these universities are controlled by the Distance Education Council or the DEC which was setup to ensure proper functioning of the various centrally, state and privately run distance and correspondence education universities and to ensure that a high standard of education is imparted by these institutes.

The Indira Gandhi National Open University is one of the premier institutes for correspondence education in India. The number of courses offered by them continues to grow every year. They not only offer graduation and post graduation courses but also diploma courses at both graduate and post graduation levels. Every year, they teach an estimated one lakh fifty thousand students.

The Kota Open University was formerly called the Vardhaman Mahaveer University when it was established in 1987. Located in Rajasthan in India, the university boasts of twenty-four study centers and six regional centers with one in the national capital. All of the centers of the Kota University boast of high end technological facilities such as wireless internet, audio and video libraries, and qualified coordinators to guide the students. This is one of the two universities of India that offer a PhD program in a correspondence format.

The Yashwantrao Chavan Open University (YCMOU) was the fifth Open University to be founded in India. Located in Nasik in Maharashtra, its area of jurisdiction covers the entire state. Apart from the regular graduate, post graduate, diploma and certificate courses, YCMOU also offers a PhD program in the fields of Distance Education, Communications and Educational Communications.

A brief overview on Correspondence Courses

Correspondence courses are not very new and have existed for more than three decades. They are a pretty good option for many people due to various reasons such as staying in a rural area, not having the time for a full-time college or school course or not having the funds for the same. There has been a steady rise in the number of universities offering distance education option in an effort to get more students and increase their profits. Though most of the programs are designed to be affordable, specialist programs like a Master’s Degree or a PhD are bound to be a bit expensive.

Correspondence education is carried out in two formats; either online or physical. In the physical format students have to apply for a course and pay the required fees to the university by visiting it in person or posting an application form along with the fees. The fees can either be given by check or demand draft. The course material is then delivered to the student by post or by courier. They then have to study the same and appear for the examination at a predetermined examination center of their choice. Most of the universities have exam centers in various states of India.

Another option for those interested in correspondence education is studying online. This option is much more convenient as the students need not wait for the study material to be delivered and can start instantly. What’s more the examinations are also held on the internet which eliminates the need of traveling to the examination center. Most of the universities that offer online correspondence education courses also have the facility of live assistance and guidance for the students. This makes it very easy for them to excel in the course. One more advantage of these courses is that the payments for such courses can be made online and the certificates too are sent by email.

Did you stop studying because of financial issues before and you have to work in order to live? Now that you have enough financial resources, you would like to get that degree to be able to get a better position at work. You don’t have to necessarily stop working just to get that degree. You can study while working at the same time. Thanks to the emergence of correspondence courses, earning a degree, may it be a graduate degree, a diploma o a Master’s degree, can be attained even away from the classroom.

Correspondence courses are offered in different parts of the globe. They offer their own specialty courses as well. If you are planning to get a graduate degree through correspondence, it is recommended to have a research on the best school you can attend to get that degree.

In India, correspondence courses are offered in many institutions which specialized in several subject like Arts, Business Administration and Science. Under graduate courses that they offer includes B.A in History, English, Political Science, Sociology as well as B.S in Chemistry, Economics, Zoology, and Geography. The schools are the one that provide the material that the students need to widen his knowledge of the field through email or audio and video. The student also has an option to study only during weekends and work during weekdays. The student has enough time to have a self review to the topic they have discussed or the topic they are about to discuss before the class on the weekend. The lessons on the program can be practically applied at the workplace to have a better understanding of thee lesson itself.

Once thee student graduates from the degree, he also has an option to further and widen his expertise by enrolling on the MBA course that the institution offers.

Did you know that India was one of the first countries to use radio as a medium for studies in its interiors and villages where education classes were not possible? India was also one of the earliest countries to use television to teach adults and children this way. The concept of open universities offering correspondence courses began in 1965 from the state of Madhya Pradesh.

Since the many other university programs have adopted the formula of distance education to attract student community. The academic levels of private students have since then improved and the infrastructure is on par with international open universities. The central government has made conscious efforts to protect the rights of primary and higher education in the country.

Correspondence courses started at a time when the traditional forms of studies could not cope up with the physical study schools. Both students and teachers found it difficult to communicate. With correspondence courses the studies do not get affected.

The Indira Gandhi National Open University in New Delhi has set up the parameters for other open universities to deliver the best. From a mere 65, 000 students the mark has reached up to nearly 8 lakhs, who learn via this method. While students always have the option to opt for overseas open universities, the Indian ones also are as good. They provide all the study material, interactive sessions, tests and guidance. Seeing the potential that education has in India, many overseas open universities have entered the country. They are providing the competitive edge to the Indian open universities to give the best education facilities to students.

In India open universities provide computer facilities to students and exam centres in various cities. Degrees are also provided and today they have as much value on the resume as the traditional ones.