| Allama Iqbal Open University | |
| Native Name: | علامہ اقبال اوپن یونیورسٹی |
| Motto: | 'Education for All' |
| Vice Chancellor: | Prof. Dr. Nasir Mahmood[1] |
| Academic Staff: | 2899 |
| Students: | 1,326,266 |
| City: | Islamabad-44000 |
| Coordinates: | 33.6829°N 73.0573°W |
| Colours: | Sky blue, orange, white |
| Other Name: | AIOU |
Allama Iqbal Open University is a public university in Islamabad, Pakistan. It is named after Allama Muhammad Iqbal, the country's national poet. It is the world's fifth largest institution of higher learning in terms of enrolment, with an annual enrollment of 1,121,038 students, the majority are women and course enrollment of 3,305,948 (2011). Students can gain admission in Matriculation, Intermediate, Bachelor, Master, MPhil and Ph.D. programmes at the university.[2]
The university has 44 regional campuses and centers throughout Pakistan including in Faisalabad Millat Road, Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera Ismail Khan, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan.[3]
Established in May 1974 under Act No. XXXIX passed by the Parliament of Pakistan,[4] it is Asia's first open university with a strong emphasis on providing distance education in philosophy, natural science and social sciences.[3] [5] It has the most applicants per year of any university in Pakistan.
AIOU offers extensive undergraduate and post-graduate programs in academic disciplines.[6] After witnessing the success of the Open University in the United Kingdom, AIOU was established as a public university in 1974.[7]
AIOU is noted for its cost-effective policy to provide higher and lifelong education to people learning from their homes and places of work at a minimum cost through a specialised fund managed by the government.
AIOU is open to everyone and provides education to all without any discrimination.[8]
Established in 1974, the faculty was upgraded as the Faculty of Arabic and Islamic Studies in 1998, with the following departments:
The Faculty of Arabic and Islamic Studies also operates an Indexing and Abstracting Agency "Islamic Research Index". The Islamic Research Index is the first and largest repository of Arabic and Islamic Studies Research Journals.
Established in 1984, the Faculty of Education's origin predates the university. A National Institute of Education was established in 1973 as a part of the Federal Ministry of Education, to improve education at school levels through in-service training of Master Trainers. This institute became a part of the university in June 1975.
The Faculty of Education has the following departments:
Renamed as Faculty of Sciences, the Faculty of Basic and Applied Sciences was established in 1982. It comprises the following nine departments:
The Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities was established in 1982. The 16 departments of the faculty are:
On the university's 25th anniversary, Pakistan Post issued a commemorative postage stamp for it on 20 November 1999.[8]