– Professor Aindril De, Chief Academic Officer, UNIVO Education

Online degrees are transforming higher education by breaking geographical, financial, and time barriers, making quality learning more inclusive and accessible.

A Rapidly Evolving Landscape: Over the past two decades, India’s higher education ecosystem has expanded beyond traditional on-campus learning to include full-fledged online degrees. Improved internet access, rapid technological progress, and the growing need for flexibility have fuelled this shift—particularly among working professionals, rural learners, and first-generation students.

According to the University Grants Commission (UGC), enrolments in online degree programmes in India rose by nearly 170 percent between 2021 and 2022. During this period, 66 higher education institutions offered 371 online degree programmes, underscoring the rapid digital transformation sweeping across academia.

Policy Support and Legitimacy: The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and subsequent UGC 2022 guidelines established the academic equivalence of online and offline degrees from recognised institutions. This has given online education formal legitimacy and positioned it as central to India’s goal of raising the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) from 28 percent to 50 percent by 2035.

Aligned with the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, these reforms aim to make education more accessible, skills-oriented, and adaptable to the needs of a knowledge-driven economy.

A Booming Ecosystem of Learners: Online higher education has evolved rapidly with the rise of smartphones and internet connectivity. Courses in Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Machine Learning, Digital Marketing, and Cybersecurity are now highly sought after.

The learner base has also diversified — from working professionals and entrepreneurs to women resuming education and students from Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns. These digital classrooms bring together varied experiences, making learning more collaborative and practice-oriented.

Growing Industry Acceptance: Employers are increasingly recognising the value of online degrees. More than 87 percent of employers have hired graduates with online qualifications, with comparable starting salaries to their offline peers. The rise of a skills-first hiring culture means 80 percent of employers now prioritise practical skills and experience over traditional degrees.

Leading organisations such as TCS iON and HCLTech have partnered with Amity University Online to design industry-facing undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Data Analytics, Cybersecurity, Data Engineering, and Software Engineering, blending academic rigour with real-world relevance.

The Future of Higher Education: Online degrees have moved from scepticism to mainstream acceptance, emerging as a powerful equaliser in education. By fostering collaboration between universities, industry, and policymakers, India is paving the way for a future-ready, technology-enabled learning ecosystem.

With online programme management companies like UNIVO empowering universities to deliver high-quality digital programmes, online education is no longer a supplement — it is a cornerstone of an inclusive and equitable academic future.

Also Read: 5% Country Limit: Not a Barrier for Indian Undergraduates