Students across India are eligible to register for two degree programs at the same time, as per the latest provision offered by the University Grants Commission (UGC). Students can take these courses offline-online, both courses offline and both courses online. This also allows students to be admitted to more than one college at the same time. A student can simultaneously study BTech at IIT Delhi and BA in the neighboring college JNU, but there are also some considerations.
After Mr Jagdeesh Kumar announced the flexibility in a media briefing Tuesday, UGC issued detailed guidance on the two-degree program today. According to the guidelines, “a student may attend two full-time academic programs in physical mode, provided in such cases class times for one program do not overlap with class times for the other program.”
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Degree or diploma programs in ODL/Online mode are taken only by those colleges recognized by UGC/Statutory Council/Govt of India to carry out such programs. Many colleges that are not licensed to teach online courses also offer such programs that lead to confusion among students. Controlling the authorization of the university and its courses lies with the students.
No retroactive application can be made by students who have already attended two academic programs at the same time prior to the publication of these guidelines. These guidelines are eligible for students taking UG and PG courses, but those in PhD cannot take advantage of the rule.
UGC has asked colleges and higher education institutions to devise mechanisms through their statutory bodies to enable their students to attend two academic programs simultaneously and ensure that they are attended without any overlap. UGC claims that with the new easing coming in, there will be no hard divisions between arts and sciences, between curricular and extracurricular activities, vocational and academic streams, etc.
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