An online degree programme is a university degree, such as an MBA, an MCA or an MSc, that is taught and examined online, so that a person can study without leaving a job. The university awards the degree. Often an edtech company builds the programme for the university. The company makes the videos, runs the website and the app, finds the students and answers their questions, and it shares the fees with the university. Such a company is sometimes called an online programme manager.
Why does the university matter so much? A degree counts only if it is awarded by an institution that an official body has checked and recognised. This is called accreditation. In India, the University Grants Commission (UGC) decides which universities may offer degrees online. Under its rules, an online degree from a recognised university is treated as equal to the same degree earned on campus. A company cannot award a degree itself.
Take, for example, a software tester in Kochi with three years of experience. He wants to move into data science, but he cannot afford to stop earning. He enrols in a two-year online MSc in data science from a recognised university. Say the fee is ₹3 lakh. He pays it in instalments, with an education loan.
His week has a fixed pattern. On weekday evenings, he watches recorded lectures and submits assignments on the university's learning management system (LMS), the website where each course lives online. On Saturday mornings, a faculty member teaches a two-hour live online class. For the practical work, he uses a virtual lab, in which he analyses real-looking data on his laptop instead of in a college laboratory. At the end of each term, he takes the exams at home. Online proctoring watches him through the webcam. It checks that he is the person who registered and that he does not cheat.
Who takes these degrees? Mostly working people between about 25 and 40, who want a promotion or a different kind of role. Some employers pay part of the fee for their staff. Several of India's best-known institutes now run online degrees of their own for working professionals.
How is it different from professional certification training? A certification course prepares a person for one industry certificate, such as a cloud certificate, in a few weeks or months. An online degree takes one to three years and ends in a university degree. It is also different from an online course marketplace, where anyone can publish a short course and no university needs to be involved.