Student enrollment in online courses has grown 170% in 2022; MBA most popular

NEW DELHI: Students enrolment in online education and distance learning saw a steady increase between 2021 and 2022. The number of higher educational institutions offering online programmes have also increased by 38 percent in the past one year. UGC chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar said, “the enrollment will pick up further once we announce the National Digital University together with flexible online education regulations”.

According to the data shared by the UGC chairman, enrollment to online education saw an increase by 170 percent between 2021 and 2022 and open and distance learning (ODL) by 42 percent. The universities saw a jump in the numbers as “online programmes provide a window of opportunity to many students who are unable to join physically in a college or University,” the UGC chairman said.

As on October 17, the UGC has recognised 66 universities to offer 371 online programmes from the academic year 2022-23. A total of 30 deemed-to-be universities will be providing 166 online courses, while 20 state universities will offer 112 online programmes. The UGC has allowed four central universities and 12 private universities to offer 21 and 72 programmes respectively from this year.

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70,023 Indian students and 2,377 international students enrolled in the year 2021-22 as compared to 25,905 students in 2020-21. Masters of Business Administration (MBA) programme is the most sought after course among Indian and foreign students. A total of 28,236 Indian students and 720 international students took MBA admission online in 2021-22.

The second and third highest number of online admission was recorded for BBA and Master of Computer Applications respectively.

Students enrollment: Comparative status

The number of universities offering online programmes also increased by 38%, from 42 recognised institutes in 2020-21 to 58 higher education institutions in 2021-22.

M Jagadesh Kumar said, “We need to take advantage of modern digital technologies to prepare engaging digital content and reach out to students using growing internet availability. At an affordable cost, students can access high quality education to become skilful and knowledgable.”

This will enable the students to become more employable in the emerging job market and has the added advantage of increasing the gross enrolment ratio. pic.twitter.com/upYVYNbWcy

— Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar (@mamidala90) October 28, 2022

“This will enable the students to become more employable in the emerging job market and has the added advantage of increasing the gross enrolment ratio,” he added.