In a monumental decision, the University Grants Commission (UGC) announced that from the upcoming academic session students will be allowed to take up two completely different full-time courses simultaneously in physical mode, online mode or a combination in either the same or different university as per their will. Earlier the commission only allowed a combination of a regular degree with an online or diploma course if a student wanted to obtain additional skills and qualifications.

The new guidelines will be applicable to almost all academic programmes available across the nation. As per the guidelines students can opt for a combination of two undergraduate (UG) degrees, two postgraduate (PG) degrees, a diploma with either a UG or PG degree. The students who are eligible for a master’s programme will also be free to apply for a bachelor’s programme even from a different domain. The only requisite for obtaining simultaneous degrees is that the timings of these classes should not overlap.

UGC chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar said, “As announced in the NEP 2020 and in order to allow students to acquire multiple skills, UGC is coming up with new guidelines to allow a candidate to pursue two-degree programmes in physical mode simultaneously. The degrees can either be pursued from the same or different universities.” He added, “Universities will have the flexibility to decide if they want to offer such a scheme of programmes or not. The guidelines will only be applicable to lecture-based courses, including undergraduate, postgraduate, and diploma programmes. MPhil and PhD programmes will not fall under the same scheme.”

With the announcement of the new guidelines, students will be able to study different courses from completely different spheres including science, humanities, finance and a wide range of disciplines. However, implementing these guidelines is optional for universities and the admission process will remain the same as per the existing norms laid down by UGC.

Keeping in mind that the students can choose from a variety of options such as both courses in physical mode to both courses in online mode or distance learning mode, UGC has stated that since all the courses require a minimal amount of attendance to be completed, universities have to lay down their own rules in those aspects other than evaluating the policies that may require some number of amendments to accommodate this initiative.

Kumar also mentioned that of late there have been many developments in the field of online education as well as open and distance learning and hence UGC will release modified regulations for online education in a few weeks after which many top-ranked institutes of India will also start offering online degrees.