The Open University

http://www.open.ac.uk Open University From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigationJump to search This article is about the UK university. For other institutions with similar names, see List of open universities. For the general concept, see Open university. For other uses of the term, see Open university (disambiguation). Question book-new.svg This article relies too much on references to primary sources. Please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (August 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) The Open University Open University Coat of Arms Modern.png Seal of The Open University Other name OU Motto Learn and Live Type Public Established 1969 Founders Harold Wilson[1] Jennie Lee[1] Walter Perry[1] Peter Venables[1] Chancellor Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho[2] Vice-Chancellor Mary Kellett (Acting) Students 168,215[3] Undergraduates 156,975[3] Postgraduates 11,240[3] Location Milton Keynes (main campus), United Kingdom 48 hectares (0.48 km2)[4] Colours Affiliations University Alliance Association of Commonwealth Universities Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Website www.open.ac.uk www.openuniversity.edu OU-Logo-improved.png The Open University (OU) is a public research university, and the biggest university in the UK for undergraduate education. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off-campus; many of its courses (both undergraduate and postgraduate) can also be studied anywhere in the world.[5] There are also a number of full-time postgraduate research students based on the 48-hectare university campus[6][7] where they use the OU facilities for research, as well as more than 1,000 members of academic and research staff and over 2,500 administrative, operational and support staff.[8] The OU was established in 1969 and used the original television studios and editing facilities at Alexandra Palace, in north London, which had been recently vacated by the BBC. The first students enrolled in January 1971.[9] The university administration is based at Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, in Buckinghamshire, but has administration centres in other parts of the United Kingdom. It also has a presence in other European countries. The university awards undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, as well as non-degree qualifications such as diplomas and certificates or continuing education units. With more than 174,000 students enrolled, including around 31% of new undergraduates aged under 25 and more than 7,400 overseas students,[10] it is the largest academic institution in the United Kingdom (and one of the largest in Europe) by student number, and qualifies as one of the world's largest universities. Since it was founded, more than 2 million students have studied its courses.[10] It was rated top university in England and Wales for student satisfaction in the 2005,[11] 2006[12] and 2012[13] United Kingdom government national student satisfaction survey, and second in the 2007 survey.[14] Out of 132 universities and colleges, the OU was ranked 43rd (second quartile) in the Times Higher Education Table of Excellence in 2008, between the University of Reading and University of the Arts London; it was rated highly in Design, Art History, English, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Computer Science, Development Studies, Social Policy and Social Work and Sociology.[15] It was ranked 36th in the country and 498th in the world by the Center for World University Rankings in 2018.[16] The Open University is one of only three[a] United Kingdom higher education institutions to gain accreditation in the United States of America by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education,[17] an institutional accrediting agency, recognized by the United States Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.[18] The BSc (Honours) Computing and IT course is accredited by BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT and quality assured by the European Quality Assurance Network for Informatics Education (EQANIE).[19] The OU won the Teaching Excellence and Digital Innovation categories in The Guardian University Awards 2018.[20]