Thread:Sikkim Manipal University – Distance Education Ranked Among India’s Top Distance Education Providers (1)

Sikkim Manipal University – Distance Education (SMU-DE), a unique public-private initiative between the Government of Sikkim and Manipal Education, Ranked #1 in the student perception survey conducted by CAREERS360, a magazine for young professionals in collaboration with Yahoo.

With over 710+ SMU-DE Learning Centers covering 310 cities across India, Sikkim Manipal University - Distance Education emerged as the top distance education provider across parameters ranging from quality of study material, library support, quality of faculty, access to study centers, conduct of exams and publishing of results among others. SMU-DE was also found to have one of the largest presences on the web with over 500+ unique IP addresses, showing the substantial reach technology could achieve.

SMU-DE spokesperson Mr. V Sivaramakrishnan, President - Distributed Learning, Manipal Education says “We are thrilled to be ranked among India’s premier Distance Education providers in the country. In line with the vision of providing affordable & accessible education to aspirants across the country, our endeavor is to collaborate technology with high quality education, providing a learning experience that’s incomparable.”

In one of the most extensive exercises undertaken in the field of distance learning, the survey elicited over 7000 responses from current and past distance education students. For the analysis, over 5000 entries, which ranked over 81 Universities, were taken into consideration. After eliminating those with less than 50 responses and unique IP addresses, the research team finally zeroed in on 30 top distance education providers which were subjected to detailed analysis.

In the objective ranking, Sikkim Manipal University - Distance Education was ranked 4th on various parameters including reach, course offerings, processes, pass ratio and transparency. Interestingly, only 11 out of the 32 top distance education providers in the objective ranking list made it to the perception ranking which hailed SMU-DE as a top provider of distance learning education in India. The Universe for Open and Distance Learning Institutes (ODLIs) in India comprises 249 institutes, out of which 188 institutes are currently offering Distance Education Programmes.

Over the years, SMU-DE has consistently raised standards in Distance Education and earned its place of pride. Some of the recognitions & awards received include:

• Ranked 1st for Results and Efficiency and Ranked 2nd for Learning and Experience by CAREERS360 magazine for the year 2010. The CAREER360 survey is the first of its kind survey in distance learning space and ranks SMU-DE in the top 3 best distance learning institutions in India.

• Dewang Mehta Business School Awards- Best Distance Learning programme

• DNA-Best B-School for the use of Technology in providing Management Education in Distance Education

• Star News- Best Management Education in Distance Education

• Winner of e-India and e-Rajasthan Awards for Digital Learning ICT enabled University of the Year”

About SMU & SMU-DE

Sikkim Manipal University is a unique public-private initiative between the Govt. of Sikkim and Manipal Education. SMU, a state University, is recognized by the UGC, Ministry of HRD and is a member of the Associations of Indian Universities. The Distance Education Council has granted recognition to all Distance Education programs offered under the aegis of SMU (Sikkim Manipal University). The Sikkim Manipal University - Directorate of Distance Education is ISO 9001:2008 certified. For more information, kindly refer to http://www.smude.edu.in or Join us on facebook