Recognized Online Degrees from India

[Alpha]

The other non-US mega-distance-university that gets some mention is UNISA.  They have a similar reputation when it comes to answering emails.  In the case of UNISA however, one needs to register and get an account number of sorts before you become a real entity in their eyes.  At that point, if you include your registration number in the communication, it will (eventually) receive an answer.  Perhaps there is a similar process at IGNOU.  They have an active enrollment of 4 million students and so perhaps it's unreasonable to expect them to respond to every casual inquiry they receive from around the world.

[k-k-k-katy]

For Indian students: IGNOU provides 6 months certificate courses in multiple disciplines. Each certificate course gives you 16-18 credits for 6000 INR or 82 USD. And this university got NAAC A++ accreditation in Jan 2021, the highest grade possible. If the NAAC accreditated credits can be transferred as RA credits, this would be the cheapest way for accumulating as many credits as possible.

Great! Now, if they would just respond to overseas enquiries...   Plus, for North American use, foreign credit transfer (other than a complete degree) is iffy at best. An individuaI school might / might not allow them, I guess. I did read here of an effort to transfer European ECTS for credit at one of the big 3. Correct me if I'm wrong (yet again) but, last I read, no sign of a successful outcome on that venture..

ROYISAGIRL can chime in here, I think.  She got her ECTS credits evaluated successfully through ACEI and accepted by TESU.  That's hopeful .

[studyingfortests]

Maybe my situation is a complete anomaly, but I inquired to IGNOU some time ago about, I believe, an MSW program they offered. After scouring their website, it appeared it *might* be possible to take the program as a US resident.

Alas, they responded back and said that their programs required that there be a representative office of IGNOU in the country where the student resides (even though, as I understood it, there was no reason to ever visit such office). And they had no office in the US, thus, no eligibility to enroll.

I believe I was able to confirm that, at least at the time, the tuitiion for non-India residents was higher, but only maybe double, making it still a screaming deal if it were actually available. A pity since their social work program seemed excellent, and I knew someone who spent time on their campus when in India, and reported the faculty and program to be excellent.

I also looked at UNISA, but did not email them. After emailing with CSWE, who had -zero- interest in even acknowledging if anyone had ever gained CSWE approval at UNISA or IGNOU, I gave up on both.

[Alpha]

This is an article about the increase in the number of private universities in India
With 131 new institutions in 4 years, it's boom time for private universities in India – ThePrint

[MrPanda]

I filled a form while visiting the Don Bosco website, and minutes later they sent me an email, and then we have been chatting during the day.
They have been answering questions, in a very polite way.

[Alpha]

This article describes what could be a major development for online higher education in India
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi...710850.cms

[Johann]

This article describes what could be a major development for online higher education in India
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi...710850.cms

Yes - for Indian students only, right now and for some considerable time to come. It's clear from the article that this isn't for the rest of the world - at least, not yet. It's in response to COVID situations and the high number of highly qualified Indian students who cannot get into their universities of first choice due to restrictions on numbers of on-campus students. Instead of their second choice they can go to their top choice - online.

The main aim is to get to the target - actual enrolment in University of 50% or more of those Indians eligible. Foreigners - maybe...someday. I can see the wisdom in that.

[Pikachu]

The problem is most universities asked you to sit the exam in person, which is impossible for foreigners to enroll.

India doesn't have true online degrees. None of them can be accelerated, there are no CBE options, and (almost) none offer online proctoring. Foreigners can enroll but you'll have to go to a center (usually in India) to give exams which defeats the whole point of an online degree.

In this news article (link: https://www.ndtv.com/education/ugc-allow...-till-2025) that I read, India's University Grants Commission (UGC) listed institutions that are "recognized" to offer distance learning degrees. The institutes (as indicated by the list) are:

• Acharya Nagarjuna University (http://anucde.info/default.asp)
  
• Sri Padmavati Mahila Vishwavidy Alayam (https://www.spmvv.ac.in/dde.html)
  
• Tezpur University (http://www.tezu.ernet.in/tu_codl/)
  
• Dibrugarh University (https://dibru.ac.in/open-distance-learning/)
  
• Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University (http://www.kkhsou.in/web_new/)
  
• Jamia Hamdard (http://jamiahamdard.edu/UserPanel/Displa...&ItemID=ec)
  
• Himachal Pradesh University (http://icdeolhpu.org/)
  
• Mahatma Gandhi Chitrakoot Gramodaya Vishwavidy Alaya Chitrakoot (http://gramodayachitrakoot.ac.in/distance-learning/)
  
• Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya, Wardha (http://www.visvesvaraya.org/schools/dist...-programme)
  
• Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (https://www.ycmou.ac.in/)
  
• Lovely Professional University (https://www.lpude.in/)
  
• Tamil Nadu Open University (https://tnou.ac.in/)
  
• Graphic Era University (https://distance.geu.ac.in/)
  

I think it is interesting that even within these institutes, there are still some degree offerings that have not been "recognized" yet. For instance, the pdf that was attached to the news article mentioned that the only recognized distance degree from Sri Padmavati Mahila Vishwavidy Alayam is their Master of Arts in Music, even though the institution itself is offering other distance degrees.

Furthermore, there are notable exclusions, such as Amity University, O.P. Jindal Global University, and Assam Don Bosco University. Admittedly, I do not know much about the Indian education system, but I am under the impression that distance learning accreditation seems to be separate from the overall institutional accreditation by the UGC. Would love to hear some thoughts about this.

---

Update: Apparently, that list has been updated (https://www.ndtv.com/education/ugc-allow...ng-courses), with the newly recognized institutions being:

• Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University (http://www.braou.ac.in/)
  
• Karnataka State Open University (https://www.ksoumysuru.ac.in/)
  
• Jiwaji University (http://www.jiwaji.edu/dis_edu_academic_programme.asp)
  
• M.P. Bhoj (Open) University (https://mpbou.edu.in/)
  
• Pondicherry University (https://www.pondiuni.edu.in/department/d...education/)
  
• Suresh Gyan Vihar University (https://www.sgvu.edu.in/)
  
• Manonmaniam Sundaranar University (https://www.msuniv.ac.in/Distance-Education/)
  
• University Of Madras (http://www.ideunom.ac.in/)
  
• Netaji Subhash Open University (http://www.wbnsou.ac.in/)
  
• Rabindra Bharati University (https://www.rbudde.in/)
  
• University of Kalyani (https://www.dodl.klyuniv.ac.in/)
  

I have attached the pdf from this news article as well as the previous one.

You forgot one: BSc in Programming and Data Science by IIT Madras.