The University Grant Commission on Tuesday announced that students will now be able to pursue two full-time degree programmes in physical mode simultaneously, either at the same university or at different universities. The announcement was made by UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar on Tuesday. The Commission will release detailed guidelines in this regard soon. Earlier, the UGC did not permit students to pursue two full-time programmes, and they could only pursue one full-time degree along with online/short-term/diploma courses.
UGC allows students to pursue two degree programmes simultaneously
With this, the new guidelines will apply to all programmes available across the country. Now, students can pursue a combination of a diploma programme and an undergraduate (UG) degree, two master’s programmes, or two bachelor’s programmes. Eligible students will now be able to pursue both an undergraduate as well as post-graduate degree simultaneously. However, students should keep in mind that the class timing of both courses should not clash.
“As announced in the new National Education Policy (NEP) 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 at the same or different universities, “said Kumar at a press conference.
A student can pursue two full-time academic programmes in the physical mode provided that, in such cases, class timings for one programme do not overlap with the class timings of the other programme. Universities will have the flexibility to decide if they want to offer such a scheme of programmes or not. The guidelines will only apply to lecture-based courses, including undergraduate, postgraduate, and diploma programmes. “MPhil and PhD programmes will not fall under the same scheme,” Kumar added. The move allows a student to pursue a full-time physical mode and another in an open and distance learning mode. Students can also opt to pursue two online degrees simultaneously. The UGC has announced that it does not mandate any attendance requirements and these are the policies of the universities, “Kumar added
