Nalanda Open University (NOU), Patna, Bihar

The Nalanda Open University, is an open, autonomous institution of higher education located in the city of Patna, the capital of Bihar, India. The University is the only University in Bihar to provide open and distance education programs. The University was established by the State Government of Bihar in the March of 1987. The 1995 Nalanda Open University Act paved the way for the University to begin operations throughout the state. The name of the University comes from the famous ancient University of Nalanda.

The Nalanda Open University constitutes of 6 main departments. These include the School of Management Studies and Physical Sciences, the School of Commerce and Social Sciences, the School of Health and Environmental Sciences, the School of Indian Languages and Religion, the School of Teachers Education and the School of Computer and Information Science. Various degree, diploma, postgraduate and undergraduate courses are offered by these constituent Schools of the University. The postgraduate programs include Master of Arts in Economics, Hindi, Geography, History, Rural Development, Education, Bhojpuri, Sociology etc. The University also offers Master of Science course in the fields of Mathematics, Botany and Geography. The MCA course, Master of Commerce and the Master of Library and Information Science are also offered. Graduate and degree programs offered include the BA Honours in the fields of Psychology, Social Work, Political Science, History, Economics, Home Science etc. Similarly a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Mathematics, Zoology, Physics etc are also offered. The University also offers various certificate programs, which last 9 months in Physiotherapy, Clinical Dental Technique, Library Science, ECG Technique, Operation Theatre Assistant etc. and ones which last 6 months, for various languages, Christian Studies, Abolition of Child Labour, Soil Health Management, Sikh Studies, Jain studies, Islamic studies etc. among many others.

Nalanda Open University (NOU) is a open located at in Patna district of Bihar, India.