The university also known by the name of VMOU or earlier known to be the Kota Open University which was renamed to be in its original name by the notification in the gazette issued by the government of Rajasthan on the date of 21st September, 2002 has been running since the year of its inception in 1987. This institute has been the primary learning and knowledge center od open learning in the state of Rajasthan. This university was setup by the UGC specifically with the purpose of open education in Rajasthan. This university provides a well-established way of distance learning which has now been given the shape of a fully functional university.

This so famous establishment of the university came into being with the sole purpose of amalgamating the most important and uniquely distributed distance education institutes like the ones in Udaipur and Jaipur to be working under the same pattern.

The most important aspect of the university is that the headquarters of the university is located in the city of Kota but has a jurisdiction reign of the entire state of Rajasthan.

The courses offered by the university falls under different categories. These are both undergraduate, postgraduate and certificate courses. These may fall under the headings like BA, BSc, BCom, PhD, M.Phil and many other certificate, diploma, masters or postgraduate and management courses. Like a full functional university, all these courses are well catered to by the institutes it holds and thus have affiliated over the time of its jurisdiction.

The admission to the university can simply be taken by filling out the requisition form for the enrollment and the studies and thus papers for the course applied for in the university can be given at the various regional and study centers the university operates all in the Rajasthan state and that too in all the major cities.