The University Grants Commission (UGC) has introduced a new enrollment procedure for students seeking admission to Open and Distance Learning (ODL) and Online Programmes for the academic year 2024-25. Effective from September 2024, this change aims to ensure that students enroll only in approved Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) offering ODL and online programmes, thereby enhancing transparency in the admissions process, stated UGC Chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar.

“The UGC (ODL Programmes and Online Programmes) Regulations, 2020 set the minimum standards for such programmes, and a list of recognized institutions is available on the UGC Distance Education Bureau website. Recent issues with unrecognized institutions admitting students highlighted the need for this standardized procedure. To safeguard student interests, the UGC has developed a mechanism requiring students to register on the UGC-DEB web portal and create a unique DEB-ID using their Academic Bank of Credit (ABC)-ID”, the UGC chairman said.

“This DEB-ID will be mandatory for all students enrolling in recognized ODL/Online programmes, except for foreign learners, and will remain valid for their lifetime. HEIs are urged to implement this new admission process efficiently and promote it to new learners to ensure successful adoption and operation,” the chairman added.

The UGC (ODL Programmes and Online Programmes) Regulations, 2020 stipulate the minimum standards for offering programmes in open and distance learning mode and online mode by higher educational institutions. Accordingly, the year-wise list of universities recognized/entitled by the Commission to offer programmes in ODL/Online mode is available in the public domain on the UGC Distance Education Bureau website at https://deb.ugc.ac.in/, according to the UGC.

It recently came to the notice of the Commission that a few HEIs admitted students into unrecognized ODL/Online programmes, thereby jeopardizing the students’ futures. To address such incidents and to increase transparency in ODL and online mode admissions, the Commission, in its 581st meeting held on June 25, 2024, decided to standardize the admission procedure for students enrolling in ODL and Online modes to safeguard their academic future and career prospects.

Accordingly, the UGC has developed a mechanism for a transparent admission process wherein any student intending to enroll in ODL/Online Programmes must register on the UGC-DEB web portal (URL: https://deb.ugc.ac.in/ and https://deb.ugc.ac.in/StudentDebId) with their Academic Bank of Credit (ABC)-ID to generate a unique DEB-ID, according to the UGC.

All stakeholders are hereby informed that the creation of a DEB-ID will be required for every student (except foreign learners) willing to enroll in ODL/Online programmes in recognized/entitled HEIs from the academic year 2024-25, starting in September 2024 (revised from July-August 2024) and onwards. The DEB-ID, once generated on the UGC-DEB web portal, will remain valid for lifelong ODL/Online learning, according to the UGC.

All Higher Educational Institutions are requested to expedite the smooth implementation of the new mechanism for ODL and Online mode admissions by completing the requisite API integration process and promoting this initiative among new learners to ensure its successful implementation, according to the UGC.

For any further inquiries or concerns, learners can contact the Helpdesk established on the website at https://deb.ugc.ac.in/, according to the UGC.