Chennai: In a move that will help arts and science students, the University of Madras is planning to allow UG and PG students to pursue two degrees at the same time. Students studying in regular mode will be allowed to study one more degree through Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode from this academic year (2025-26).

“Those who are studying in distance mode will be allowed to join two distance mode programmes simultaneously,” according to the draft guidelines for dual degrees prepared by the University of Madras.

The draft guidelines will be placed for approval at the university’s syndicate meeting scheduled for Monday.

“The dual mode will be mentioned in the degree certificate. There will be an orientation for students before the start of the admission,” the guidelines further said.

Following the University Grants Commission‘s (UGC) notification in 2022, the university decided to implement the same from 2022-23. It also tasked the Institute of Distance Education (IDE) to frame the guidelines for dual mode admissions.

The dual degree featured as one of the suggestions in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Professors said it would be beneficial for students pursuing commerce, arts, and science to skill themselves by studying an extra course. “The admission to BCom in city colleges has been very tough due to high scores in Class XII exams. A student studying BA economics can enrol in BCom in distance mode and pursue two degrees at the same time. It would help him or her to have a career in their area of interest,” a professor from the university said.

The university’s former vice-chancellor P Duraisamy said this move would benefit students studying in arts and science courses. “Getting a BCA and BBM degree in distance mode also will be very valuable for arts and science students. The university also should plan to introduce new courses in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and data science to prepare all students in the emerging areas,” he said.

Students who joined professional degrees due to peer pressure can also join an arts degree of their choice under the dual degree programme.

Further, the university is also likely to give its approval to the draft online programme regulations for UG and PG degrees from this academic year.