Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham Launches 6 Online Degree Programmes - P Venkat Rangan, Vice-Chancellor

In February, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, a private university based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, launched six full-fledged online degree programmes at once – two undergraduate and four postgraduate ones. These degree courses come under the university’s Amrita AHEAD programme. P Venkat Rangan, the university’s Vice-Chancellor, spoke to Careers360 about how these courses are different from conventional courses offered through classroom teaching.

Q. Which online degree courses are being offered and are you planning to add more?

A. We have recently launched online courses under Amrita AHEAD which include two undergraduate programmes – BBA and BCA – and four postgraduate programmes – MBA, MCA, MCA-AI and MCA-Cybersecurity. We will have 10 degree programmes in the next enrolment that starts in July-August.

The courses under Amrita AHEAD are meant for undergraduates, fresh graduates and working professionals and are equivalent to the university’s on-campus degrees. With these online programmes, students can pursue dual-degrees with some of the best international universities and benefit from international exchange and placement opportunities abroad. They will get support from our career assistance programme that has a placement record of more than 95 percent.

Q. What has been the response to the courses you have launched recently?

A. The response has been fantastic. Students from across the country have applied so far and international students from the USA, Middle-East and Africa have also shown interest.

Q. How are the online degree courses different from the regular ones?

A. All six programmes are offered on our award-winning platform providing an immersive learning experience. Through this, learners can take advantage of the recorded lectures, discussion forums and live interactive sessions to clear doubts with experienced faculty and mentors. Innovative teaching practices provide experiential learning, allowing the students ‘anytime access’ and flexibility with personalized mentorship and interactivity.

Students can study at their own pace in a world-class learning environment that includes faculty from India and abroad. The online degrees offer the same academic and career opportunities as available to students studying at our physical campus.

The programmes are quite affordable - actually cheaper than on-campus programmes. They are offered by outstanding faculty from India and abroad and have a diverse set of elective streams in all programmes with the goal of having a close alignment to the needs of the industry.

Q. What is the admission process for online courses? Is the process as rigorous as the one for the regular courses?

A. Yes, students are admitted based on their eligibility criteria. The Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham admission process is quite seamless and fully-online. Four steps are included in the process- 1) choose the program 2) apply online 3) speak to an admissions consultant and 4) join the programme.

The process has the same standards as regular on-campus admissions. The only difference is that the process is fully online. Students don’t need to enter any of the campuses to obtain admissions.

Q. Is the fee structure of online courses different from regular ones? How is the fee structure fixed?
A. The fees at Amrita AHEAD have incredible options and much cheaper than on-campus programs.

With Amrita’s online programmes, students can pursue dual-degrees with some of the best international universities and benefit from international exchange and placement opportunities abroad