Tamil Nadu Open University (TNOU) is an Indian institution for

open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gerd Dudek, Buschi Niebergall, and Edward Vesala album), 1979 * ''Open'' (Go ...

and

distance learning Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

established by the government of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, India. It was founded in 2002 and is based in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

. The university was established by the Legislative Assembly of the government of Tamil Nadu in Act 27 of 2002 to provide access to higher education for those who had been previously unable to pursue it. It opened in 2003, was recognized by the University Grants Commission in September 2015, and is one of five universities approved to offer distance learning outside its state of establishment. it was one of 14 state open universities in India, which also has one national open university,

Indira Gandhi National Open University Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is a National university, public Open university (concept), open & Distance education, distance learning university located in Delhi, India. Named after the former Prime Minister of India, prime ...

; it was one of 111 distance learning institutions in the country. it offers 113 programmes of study at levels from certificate to post graduate and has 13 academic schools, five support divisions, a media centre and more than 600 learner support centres across Tamil Nadu. Students are admitted under two admission cycles, calendar year (January to December) and

academic year An academic year, or school year, is a period that schools, colleges and university, universities use to measure the duration of studies for a given educational level. Academic years are often divided into academic terms. Students attend classe ...

(July to June). They include those living in remote and rural areas, working people, handicapped students, housewives and retirees such as a 67-year-old woman who later completed an MA in history with

Madras University The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

, and prisoners.

References

External links

Official website
Open universities in India Universities in Chennai 2002 establishments in Tamil Nadu Educational institutions established in 2002 {{TamilNadu-university-stub