Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University was previously called as Andhra Pradesh Open University and the university came into existence in the year 1982. It is a public university operating with the motto of ‘education at your doorstep’. The university is located in a urban campus in the capital city of Hyderabad of the state of Andhra Pradesh. The university got its present name in the year 1991 on the 24th of October on the occasion of the birth centenary of the great leader of India Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. The university has a wide network of more than 200 study centres spread over the whole state of Andhra Pradesh and it came into existence through an act of Andhra Pradesh State Legislature.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University offers courses under different disciplines like arts, commerce, library and information sciences, food and nutrition, management, women’s studies, human rights, environmental studies, business finance, etc… and courses are offered by Dr.B.R. Ambedkar Open University at different levels like UG, PG, Diploma and certificate courses and the university follows multimedia teaching-learning approach for offering these courses. The list of courses offered by the Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University at different levels of education is given below:

Under Graduate Programmes:

• Bachelor of Arts

• Bachelor of Commerce

• Bachelor of Science

Post Graduate Programmes:

• Master of Arts in

o History

o Economics

o Political science

o Administration

o Sociology

o English

o Telugu

o Hindi

o Urdu

• Master of Commerce

• Master of Science in

o Mathematics

o Botany

o Chemistry

o Environmental sciences

o Physics

o Zoology

o Psychology

Professional Courses:

• Bachelor of Education

• Bachelor of Special Education

• Master of Education

• Master of Business Administration

• MBA Health Care Management in Collaboration with AHERF, Hyderabad

• Bachelor’s Degree in Library & Information Sciences

• Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration

• Master’s degree in Library & Information Sciences

Diploma Courses:

• Post Graduate Diploma in

o Marketing management

o Business finance

o Environmental studies

o Writing for Mass Media in Telugu

o Human rights

o Women’s Studies

o Preventive & Promotive Health Care

o Holistic Health

o Wellness Management

o Culture & Heritage Tourism

Certificate Courses:

• Certificate Course in

o NGO Management

o Literacy and Community Development

o Motor Insurance

o Fire Insurance

o Medical insurance

o Life Insurance

o Pension Planning

o Food & Nutrition

As mentioned earlier, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University follows multimedia approach for instruction, which indicated that the university follows approaches like winter and summer schools, contact-cum-counseling classes, video and audio lessons, radio lessons, printed programs material, etc… for offering intensive coaching to the students with the help of experts. The program materials inclusive of radio and video lessons for each subjects, are selected and prepared by a tear of program writers, translators and editors in collaboration with specialists in different disciplines from different universities and research institutions. The printed materials are sent to the students through courier or postal services and cassettes are made available through study centres.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University maintains regular touch with its students through mails and about fifteen and twenty letters are dispatched to each student every year. the university has so far produce more than 250 volumes of study materials covering courses under 30 different disciplines. Thus, Andhra Pradesh Open University acts as the best option for open learning in the state of Andhra Pradesh.