Chennai: After a long wait, the University of Madras is planning to launch online BCom, BBA degree programmes from this academic year (2026-27). Institute of Distance Education at the university is preparing e-resources, including video lectures, a studio for delivering live lectures for these online courses.“These two programmes will be launched on a pilot basis. After seeing the response from students, the university is likely to launch more programmes in newer areas,” an official from the university said.Institute of Distance Education at the University of Madras is offering more than 30 degree programmes in the distance mode. BCom, BBA and MBA are the most popular courses as a majority of students prefer these courses.A few years ago, the University of Madras received permission from the University of Grants Commission (UGC) to start nine online degree programmes.“Faculty members from the university departments and affiliated colleges will be pooled in to give live lectures to students. There will not be any jurisdictional boundary in enrolling students. Any student can enrol in these programmes. From entry to exit, these programmes will be completely online,” the official added.The university may conduct proctored online exams for online degree programmes. Further, the enrolment at the Institute of Distance Education (IDE) has increased by 2,500 compared to the previous year. “Overall 32,000 students enrolled in various programmes in the two admission sessions conducted in 2025-26 academic year. The enrolment has increased despite stopping the psychology programmes based on the direction from UGC,” another official said.It is also planning to launch job-oriented diploma programmes in commerce, sociology and other fields. The university also will continue its BSc (blended) science degree programme, which is offered in collaboration with the University of Melbourne. As many as five students from various departments were also selected by University of Melbourne for the summer internship starting from June.
