The University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed higher education institutions to stop offering healthcare and allied discipline programmes—including psychology and nutrition—through Open and Distance Learning (ODL) and online mode from the 2025–26 academic session.
The ban applies to courses listed under the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions (NCAHP) Act, 2021. These include psychology, microbiology, food and nutrition science, biotechnology, clinical nutrition, and dietetics.
“No higher education institutions shall be permitted to offer any allied and healthcare programmes covered under the NCAHP Act, including psychology as a specialisation, from July–August 2025 onwards. Any recognition already granted for such programmes will be withdrawn,” UGC Secretary Manish Joshi said.
In multidisciplinary programmes such as BA with multiple specialisations, only those subjects falling under the NCAHP Act will be barred. For instance, psychology will be withdrawn, while other subjects may continue.
The UGC has instructed institutions not to admit students to these programmes from the upcoming session. The move follows concerns over quality standards in professional training and recommendations from the 24th Distance Education Bureau Working Group meeting in April 2025, later ratified by the commission.
The regulator already prohibits professional and practice-based courses such as engineering, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, architecture, physiotherapy, applied arts, paramedical disciplines, agriculture, horticulture, hotel management, catering technology, visual arts, and law from being offered in ODL or online mode.