Is IGNOU Approved by UGC, AICTE?

The UGC was first introduced in 1945 to monitor the work of only three central universities in Aligarh, Banaras, and Delhi.

After Indian Independence, the University Grants Commission of India was established in 1953, and it was made into a legal body under the UGC act in 1956.  It was given the power to look after all the universities and higher learning institutions in India. This organization comes under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, with its head office in New Delhi.

The main role of UGC is to coordinate, determine and maintain the standards of higher education.  Here, higher education corresponds to after class 12. So, UGC provides recognition to Indian universities and allocates and distributes funds to the recognized universities and colleges.

As mentioned earlier, UGC has its head office in New Delhi and its six regional offices in Bangalore, Kolkata, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Guwahati, and Pune.

There is a proposal given to the Government of India to replace the UGC with another regulatory body named HECI (Higher Education Commission of India). But still, it remains a proposal as no action has been taken regarding it.

Students who are pursuing their doctorate can get their scholarship if they clear the national eligibility test. And these doctoral scholarships are provided by UGC and, on average, every year, more than Rs. 725 crore is spent on both doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships by the commissions.

The types of universities controlled by UGC are central universities, state universities, deemed universities, and private universities.

Now coming back to the question, "Is IGNOU approved by UGC?"

Yes, IGNOU is approved by UGC, and it is recognized as a central university. So you can pursue your degree in this open university, and it is totally valid.

I get that your question is not answered completely. Does AICTE approve IGNOU is still pending? Before getting into this, first, you need to understand the role of AICTE.

AICTE, abbreviated as All India Council for Technical Education, is a legal body and is a national-level council for technical education in India. It was formed in 1945 to oversee technical education in the country.

So AICTE helps in coordinating the effort for the development and planning of technical education in India. Apart from this, AICTE is involved in the training, research, and development of technical education.

That being said, it must approve the technical universities and colleges in India. The B.tech/M. AICTE has approved tech courses in IGNOU, and thus, they are valid.

So, if you plan to pursue any degree, either technical or non-technical, you are good to go. Did you find this article useful? Then please share it with your friends and create awareness that both UGC and AICTE approve IGNOU.