UGC Introduces New Enrollment Procedure for ODL, Online Courses Starting October 2024

Starting from the 2024-25 academic year, all students intending to enroll in ODL or Online Programmes must register on the UGC Distance Education Bureau (DEB) web portal.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has announced a revised enrollment procedure for students enrolling in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) or Online Programmes starting from the academic year 2024-25.

The academic session, originally scheduled for July-August 2024, will now begin in October 2024. This move aims to ensure that students are only admitted to UGC-approved Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs), thereby enhancing transparency in the admission process.

According to the UGC (ODL Programmes and Online Programmes) Regulations, 2020, only HEIs recognized by the UGC are authorized to offer ODL and Online Programmes.

The UGC Notice states thjat the UGC has observed that some institutions have been admitting students into unrecognized programmes, jeopardizing their academic future. In response, the UGC, during its 581st meeting on June 25, 2024, decided to standardize the admission procedure for these programmes.

Starting from the 2024-25 academic year, all students intending to enroll in ODL or Online Programmes must register on the UGC Distance Education Bureau (DEB) web portal. During this process, students will need to use their Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) ID to generate a unique DEB-ID, which will be required for enrollment. This DEB-ID will be valid for lifelong ODL and Online learning.

The UGC has urged all HEIs to expedite the implementation of this new mechanism and promote it among prospective students. The creation of a DEB-ID will be mandatory for all students (except foreign learners) from the upcoming academic session.

For more details and to register, students and institutions can visit the UGC-DEB website at https://deb.ugc.ac.in/.