Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) - New Delhi

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), is a central university located in New Delhi, India. The university was named after former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi, the university was established in 1985. IGNOU is run by the central government of India and has an active enrollment of 7 million+ students. They have a lot of schools of different streams to promote distance education among the professionals and students who cannot pursue regular education.

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They have an amazing structure of managing a huge distance education network as they maintain authoritative departments like student evaluation, academic coordination, communication and maintenance among other functional departments to ensure steady communication between students from remote locations and the authoritative body.

Table of Contents

• Highlights
• Why Choose Indira Gandhi National Open University?
• Ranking
• Courses
• Departments
• Admission
• Cut Off
• IGNOU Result
• IGNOU Campus
• Placements
• Scholarships
• Collaborations
• IGNOU Distance Education
• Alumni

Indira Gandhi National Open University Highlights 

The highlights of IGNOU, such as university type, approvals, facilities, etc., are mentioned below.

Indira Gandhi National Open University Highlights
Year of Establishment	1985
Type of University	Public
Accreditations	NAAC A++
Recognition	UGC, AICTE, AIU
Approvals	UGC
Courses/ Degrees Offered	Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Ph.D., Diploma, Certificate Courses
Infrastructure Facilities	Library, Bank, Wi-Fi etc.

Why Choose IGNOU?

IGNOU was founded to serve the Indian population through distance and open education, providing quality higher education opportunities to all segments of society. Apart from teaching and research, extension and training form the centrepiece of its academic activities. It also acts as a national resource centre and serves to promote and maintain standards of distance education in India. The secretariats of the SAARC Consortium on Open and Distance Learning (SACODiL) and the Global Mega Universities Network (GMUNET) were hosted by IGNOU, which was initially supported by UNESCO.

IGNOU Academic Advantages

IGNOU offers 226 academic programs comprising courses at various levels ranging from certificate, diploma and degree. Currently, the university has 21 schools of studies and a network of 67 regional centres, over 2,600 learner support centres and 29 overseas partner institutions. The university provides many courses to students to be accessed from anywhere in the country. They not only focus on teaching but also training.

IGNOU Ranking

Indira Gandhi National Open University is recognized by UGC and is a member of AIU. Here is the overview of IGNOU's ranking. 

• IGNOU is ranked 17th among the top 100 universities in India in 2004 based on web data as an indicator of the visibility and impact of the activities of the universities, colleges and research institutions worldwide.

IGNOU Courses

IGNOU courses are offered at various levels like a certificate, undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral levels, and details regarding them are given on the official website of IGNOU. The courses are offered in 3 modes namely distance, online and regular.

Below is a summary of the various courses offered by the university across different disciplines with their specializations:

IGNOU Sciences Courses

Courses	Specializations
B.Sc {Hons.}	Biochemistry, Anthropology
M.Sc.	Mathematics with Application in Computer Science
M.Phil	Chemistry, Geography
Ph.D.	Biochemistry, Chemistry, Geography

IGNOU Management Courses

Courses	Specializations
BBA	Retailing
Ph.D	Commerce

IGNOU Arts Courses

Courses	Specializations
BA	Tourism Studies
MA	English, Political Sciences, Economics, History, Political Science, Public Administration, Sociology, Psychology, History, Anthropology, Gandhi & Peace Studies, Education, Distance Education, Adult Education, Philosophy, Development Studies, Translation Studies
M.Phil	Political Sciences, Sociology
Ph.D.	English, Economics, Anthropology, History, Hindi

Read more on IGNOU Courses and Fees

IGNOU Departments

Mentioned below are the departments of the Indira Gandhi National Open University. Each department is built for a particular stream or two and offers courses and programs under that field. 

Humanities	Social Studies	Sciences	Education
Management Studies	Computer & Information Sciences	Engineering & Technology	Continuing Education
Health Sciences	Journalism & New Media Studies	Agriculture	Law
Tourism & Hospitality Service Management	Interdisciplinary and Trans-disciplinary Studies	Gender & Development Studies	Vocational Education & Training
Translation Studies & Training	Extension & Development Studies	Performing and Visual Arts	Foreign Languages

IGNOU Admission

The IGNOU admission is initiated by filling up an online application on the official website and filling in all the relevant information. An OPENMAT entrance test is taken for admission into MBA. Candidates interested in any of the UG, PG, Doctoral, Diploma, or certificate courses offered by the institute can apply for the same via the online or offline application form. The application process varies as per the course desired and entrance exam required for IGNOU admission 2021. The application form for IGNOU admission 2021 can be submitted online or offline along with the required documents. IGNOU application form 2021 is available on the website of the institute. Candidates have to register on the IGNOU registration portal for admission.

Admissions are open twice a year i.e in January and July. The IGNOU Admission 2021 is based on the entrance exam.

Read more on IGNOU Admission

IGNOU Eligibility Criteria

Numerous courses are offered by Indira Gandhi National Open University, each of which has different eligibility criteria. Below is a list of a few courses offered by the university with their eligibility criteria:

IGNOU MBA Eligibility

The university offers MBA degree programs in various disciplines namely banking & finance, HR, marketing, and finance. The course duration is 2 years.

Eligibility Criteria

 

• Any graduate (Including Chartered Accountancy/ Cost Accountancy/ Company Secretaryship) with 50% marks for general category/ 45% for reserved category as per government of India rules.
• The student should ensure that his/ her CGPA should meet the eligibility percentage requirement.
• Clearance of OPENMAT entrance test of IGNOU conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA)

IGNOU B.Sc Eligibility

The university offers B.Sc degree programs in various disciplines namely botany, chemistry, geography, zoology, geology, mathematics. The course duration can be 3 years or 6 years. The medium of instruction is Hindi and English.

Eligibility Criteria 

• Students must have passed 10+2 with science subjects or its equivalent from a recognized university.

IGNOU Ph.D. Eligibility

Doctorate in Philosophy course a minimum duration is 3 years and the maximum duration is 6 years. The university offers this course in various fields including science, commerce, arts, etc.

Eligibility Criteria

• Students must have passed master’s degree from a recognized university or any other qualification recognized as equivalent thereto in such fields of study with at least 55% marks and 50% marks in the case of SC, ST, OBC (Non-creamy Layer) and differently-abled and other categories of candidates as per the decision of UGC from time to time. 
• The student has to qualify in the entrance examination conducted by IGNOU at the National level.

IGNOU M.A Eligibility

The university offers M.A programs in various specializations including history, sociology, rural development, education, etc. The duration of the course is a minimum of 2 years and a maximum of 4 years. The medium of instruction is English. 

Eligibility Criteria

• Students must have passed bachelor's or higher degree from a recognized university.

IGNOU Cut Off

The university releases varying cut-offs every year during the admission season. IGNOU is one of the leading educational institutes in the country. There are few factors that IGNOU cut-off depends on:

• A number of applications received.
• Cut-off of previous years.
• A number of seats offered.

IGNOU OPENMAT Cut Off 2021

Given below are the expected section-wise cut off for IGNOU OPENMAT 2021.

For more information, check IGNOU Cut off.

IGNOU Result

The IGNOU result 2021 will be declared for the June session. TEE exam results will be declared tentatively on 17th September 2021, results for the December TEE exam will be tentatively declared in December. For checking the results, students need to follow the steps below:

• Visit the Student Support section on the website.
• Click on the “Results” link from the drop-down menu.
• Now, click on the Term End section on the left side of the page.
• After that click on the “June 2021 Exam Result”.
• A new window will appear which will ask for the enrollment number.
• Enter the number and check the results.

For re-evaluation of IGNOU 2021 results, students need to fill the revaluation application form and pay INR 750.0 for each course within 1 month of declaration of results. Read more on IGNOU Result.

IGNOU Campus Details

Indira Gandhi National Open University offers various study centres that are spread across the country. The campus of the university has resources for the production, transmission of various courses. They also have satellite-based national educational channels known as Gyan Darshan and are linked with many channels linked from earth station. IGNOU campus has linkages with various centres that are spread all across the country and offers facilities like distance learning, classrooms, conference rooms, etc. The main campus provides banking services.

Some of the facilities offered within the campus are:

• Distance Learning Centers
• Classrooms
• Conference Rooms
• Internet
• Computer Labs
• Bank

Read more on IGNOU Facilities provided at the campus.

IGNOU Placements

The university has established the Campus Placement Cell (CPC) for geographically distributed students. Students interested in placement assistance of CPC for procuring suitable job opportunities are requested to send their current resume/ biodata to [email protected]

Read more about IGNOU Placement.

IGNOU Scholarships

IGNOU scholarships are provided in various programs. The details of the IGNOU scholarships are mentioned below:

• IGNOU has 20000 scholarships for differently-abled students that are sponsored by National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation (NHFDC). The sum is different for courses offered.
• Around 30% of scholarships are reserved for girls students under the Trust Fund.
• Under the Trust Fund, 1000 scholarships of INR 50,000 per year are provided to students with disabilities.
• A scholarship amount of INR 12,000 per year is provided to 500 financially weak students. 

Check for detailed information on IGNOU Scholarships.

IGNOU Collaborations

IGNOU has collaboration and networking with conventional universities, open universities and other institutions/ organizations for educational purposes. It has also collaborated with various departments of the Indian Government. 

IGNOU International Collaborations 

IGNOU's tie-ups with various international educational institutions are as follows

• South Asia Foundation Learning Initiative (SAFLI)
• Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL)
• Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Pakistan
• Bangladesh Open University (BOU)
•  BRAC University, Bangladesh. 
• Education Section of the Commonwealth Secretariat, London. 
• Goethe Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan, University of Vienna 

IGNOU National Collaborations

IGNOU's tie-ups with various Govt of India departments are as follows

• The Ministry of Power, Government of India
• Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS)
• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) 
• Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) 
• The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India
• The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Government of India.
• NACO

IGNOU Distance Education

All the courses offered by IGNOU are taught in distance mode. It provides various courses in different disciplines of arts, science, commerce, law, engineering, social work, journalism and mass communication, etc. The courses offered are certificate, advance certificate, PG certificate, diploma, advanced diploma, PG diploma, bachelors and masters. 

IGNOU Alumni

The university alumni are working in various fields. Notable alumni are actress Deepika Padukone, IAS Officer Keshvendra Kumar, Chief of Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor, and many others. IGNOU has an alumni association termed AAI which stands for Alumni Association of IGNOU. It aims to provide a common platform for alumni for experience sharing and facilitating communications.