In 2020, Indian Universities were for the first time able to offer fully online degrees. While this could be seen as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic (which increased interest in online education and Class Central), India’s online degrees were made possible by regulations approved by the University Grants Commission (UGC) back in 2018.

In July 2020, when we first compiled this list, we found 50 degrees. The number has grown each year since. Now there are over 2000 online degrees available from 190+ universities across India. @suparn and I (@dhawal) have spent hundreds of hours tracking down the degrees and reading through UGC’s various regulations and notices.

UGC Online Degree Regulations

In India, the UGC is charged with “determining and maintaining standards of teaching, examination and research in universities”.

According to the UGC (Online Courses) Regulations, 2018, to be eligible to offer online degrees, a university must:

• Have existed for at least five years.
• Be accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).
• Be a top-100 university in India according to the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) for at least two of the last three years.

This changed in September 2020, when UGC published University Grants Commission (Open and Distance Learning Programmes and Online Programmes) Regulations, 2020.

Under the new regulations, UGC granted automatic approval to universities that satisfy certain criteria. Here’s the direct quote:

“Higher Educational Institutions having NAAC score 3.26 and above or having rank in Top-100 in University category of National Institutional Ranking Framework, at least twice in three preceding cycles (at the time of application), shall be permitted to start full-fledged Online programmes without prior approval of the UGC.”

Here is a list of Higher Educational Institutions recognized to offer online programmes for the academic year 2024-25 (academic session beginning February 2025).

SWAYAM

Before these regulations were introduced, students in India could complete up to 20% of their degree online via SWAYAM, India’s official MOOC platform. SWAYAM’s academic credit system is detailed in the framework introduced by UGC in mid-2016.

On March 25th, 2020, UGC published the University Grants Commission (Credit Framework for Online Learning Courses through Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds) Regulations, 2021. Under this new regulation, UGC increased the number of credits that can be earned online to 40%.

Universities offering online degrees in India can offer them through SWAYAM or other learning management systems that fit certain criteria.

In December 2018, 3,800 students flocked to exam centers across India to sit their exams for courses they’d taken on SWAYAM. For the July 2024 semester, more than 64,000 students sat Swayam exams in December 2024. To learn more about SWAYAM and its credit system, check out Class Central’s comprehensive report.

Format of Online Degrees

Online Degrees in India

In 2020, UGC published a list of 37 programs from 7 Indian universities that have been approved for online delivery. IIT Madras, India’s top technical institute, also announced a stackable online BSc in Programming and Data Science for ~₹242,000 (~$3300) from IIT Madras.

According to IIT Madras, 7,116 students were admitted in its first cohort.

Bachelors degrees take a minimum of 3 years and Masters degrees take a minimum of 2 years to complete.

The number of online degrees offered via Indian universities has more than doubled since 2020 and the number of universities has increased from 68 to 191.

At Class Central, we’re big fans of low-cost online degrees like Georgia Tech’s Online Master’s in Computer Science (OMSCS), which costs $7,000.

But India’s new online degrees are priced lower than that. The most expensive ones, like IIT Madras’ BSc (up to ₹70,000 or ~ $880) or Amity University’s MBA ($5,000), cost less than Georgia Tech’s online degree.

The cost varies among degrees and universities. Traditional degrees cost less than professional degrees, and degrees from government aided universities generally cost less than private universities.

For example, here is a comparison between MBA and MA at Central University of Rajasthan (Category I status) and Manipal University Jaipur (UGC Entitled status). MBA is a professional degree whereas MA English is a traditional degree. Central University of Rajasthan is a Central University whereas Manipal University Jaipur is a private university.

In 2021, O.P. Jindal Global University announced three new online degrees on Coursera. Two of them cost $6,000, while an MBA in Business Analytics was $7,500, making it the most expensive online degree offered by an Indian university. Currently, one degree from O.P. Jindal Global University is available via Coursera: Bachelor of Science in Psychology; it costs $3,400.

Some of these prices are still too high for a large segment of the Indian population. But on a global scale, where many online degrees cost tens of thousands of dollars, they’re very affordable. Certain Indian universities like IITs and IIMs are also well known around the world. This makes me wonder if in the long term, India could become an exporter of higher education?

Below, you can find the list of Indian online degrees available categorized by university. We will keep updating this article as new ones are announced. If you find something missing, let us know in the comments.

UGC Approved Programs (2024–25)