Now, students can opt for two degree courses at same time

Vibha Sharma

New Delhi, April 12

Students can now pursue two full-time degree programmes simultaneously at the undergraduate and postgraduate level, either in physical or online mode or in combination.

The UGC has approved simultaneous dual degree courses for students in India, allowing them to complete courses either at the same university or from different universities at the same time, University Grants Commission Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar today said, adding that the UGC would soon issue detailed guidelines in this regard.

“As announced in the new National Education Policy (NEP) and in order to allow students to acquire multiple skills, the UGC has come up with new guidelines to allow a candidate to pursue two degree programmes simultaneously. The degrees can either be pursued from the same or different universities,” Kumar said. “The idea is to provide as much flexibility as possible to the students. These guidelines are part of the NEP and are aimed to customise and personalise education, even allow multidisciplinary education across various domains. It is a great opportunity for students to expand their skills,” he added. The programme will be implemented from the current academic year (2022-23). Students can either opt for two degrees or a combination, for example, a degree and a diploma, from either the same university or a different institute. The guidelines are expected to be uploaded on the website of the UGC tomorrow.

Offline, Online Mode flexibility

• Students can now pursue two degrees in physical-physical mode, physical-online mode or online-online mode
• Two full-time programmes can be taken up in physical mode provided class timings do not overlap. For example, a student can pursue BCom classes in the morning and BA classes in the evening
• Courses can be taken from the same university or from different universities
• Students will also be allowed to pursue multidisciplinary programmes