Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) was founded in 1985 when the Indian Parliament passed the Indira Gandhi Open University Act in the same year. It is a distance learning university which is situated at IGNOU Road, Maidan Garhi, Delhi, India. It is was founded with a budget of 20 million and is administered by the central government of India.
Currently, it is one of the largest university with 4 million plus students enrolling in its programs from all over the globe. It has a vast network of 21 schools, 67 regional centers, and 2667 study centers all over India. Furthermore, it has 29 overseas centers spread across 15 countries. Almost 20% of total students that are enrolled in higher studies in India are from IGNOU. IGNOU delivers 226 academic programs consisting of a certificate, degree, and diploma courses.
IGNOU holds secretariats of Global Mega Universities Network (GMUNET) which was initially backed by UNESCO and SAARC Consortium on Open Distance Learning (SACODiL). It is also recognized as Central University by the likes of University Grants Commission (UGC) of India. The degrees offered by IGNOU are recognized to be par with degrees offered by member universities of The Association of Indian Universities (AIU). IGNOU admissions take place twice a year in June and December. Admission forms are available on their official website.
IGNOU strives to provide better educational opportunities to backward and disabled sections of society and aims at enriching and improving the quality of human resources of India.