UGC Bans Online & Distance-Mode Psychology, Nutrition & Healthcare Courses from July–August 2025
Share
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued a formal directive disallowing higher education institutions from offering psychology, nutrition, healthcare, and allied-discipline programmes via online or Open and Distance Learning (ODL) modes starting the July–August 2025 academic session.
This decision extends to all disciplines governed by the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions (NCAHP) Act, 2021, including psychology (as a specialization), microbiology, food and nutrition science, biotechnology, clinical nutrition, and dietetics. The UGC announced that any existing recognition granted to universities and colleges to run such programmes online or via distance mode will be revoked.
The notification follows recommendations from the 24th Distance Education Bureau Working Group meeting held in April 2025, and was ratified during the UGC’s 592nd Commission meeting on July 23, 2025.
The UGC cited concerns over the inability of remote learning formats to adequately deliver the practical, supervised, and hands-on training that these professional and practice-oriented courses demand. In programmes offering multiple specializations (e.g., a BA combining economics, history, and psychology), only the specializations covered under the NCAHP Act will be discontinued in online or ODL formats.
The move marks a significant shift in India’s distance-learning landscape, affecting thousands of aspiring students who may have planned to enroll in these fields through remote education. Institutions will now need to restructure their offerings and encourage enrolment through traditional, in-person academic delivery models instead.
