India Is Home To World's Largest University

Did you know the world’s biggest university isn’t in the US, Europe, or China — it’s right here in India? Yep, the crown belongs to one of the Indian universities

which was established with a special purpose -- giving Indians the chance to study even if they are working or taking care of household work. With over three million students, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), is considered to be the largest universities by enrollment in the world. IGNOU is a public open and distance learning university located in Delhi, India. Named after the former prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi, the university was established in 1985, after the Parliament of India passed the Indira Gandhi National Open University Act, 1985 (IGNOU Act 1985). IGNOU provides 333 academic programs through its 21 Schools of Studies, supported by a network of 67 Regional Centres and 2,257 Learner Support Centres (LSCs). Other Indian universities on this list are a strong mix of traditional in-person campuses like Delhi University, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Mumbai University, and Osmania University, alongside massive open-learning institutions such as Dr. B R Ambedkar Open University and Bhoj Open University.

Rank	Institution	Location	Continent	Founded	Affiliation	Mode (Distance/In-Person)	Enrollment
1	Indira Gandhi National Open University	New Delhi, India	Asia	1985	Public	Distance/In-Person	3,000,000+
2	National University, Bangladesh	Gazipur, Bangladesh	Asia	1992	Public	In-Person	3,425,832
3	Anadolu University	Eskişehir, Turkey	Asia	1958	Public	Distance/In-Person	1,974,343
4	California Community Colleges	California, United States	North America	1967	Public	In-Person	1,800,000
5	Islamic Azad University	Iran	Asia	1982	Private	In-Person	1,778,000
6	Allama Iqbal Open University	Islamabad, Pakistan	Asia	1974	Public	Distance/In-Person	1,027,000
7	Laureate Education, Inc.	International	Global	1999	Private	Distance/In-Person	875,000
8	Bangladesh Open University	Gazipur, Bangladesh	Asia	1992	Public	Distance	650,000
9	Universitas Terbuka	Jakarta, Indonesia	Asia	1984	Public	Distance	646,467
10	National Technological Institute of Mexico	Mexico	North America	1948 / 2014	Public	In-Person	620,000 (2019)
11	Savitribai Phule Pune University	Pune, Maharashtra, India	Asia	1948	Public	In-Person	665,000
12	Chaudhary Charan Singh University	Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India	Asia	1965	Public	In-Person	560,000
13	University of Mumbai	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India	Asia	1857	Public	In-Person	549,432
14	Ramkhamhaeng University	Bangkok, Thailand	Asia	1971	Public	In-Person	525,000
15	National Open University of Nigeria	Nigeria	Africa	2002	Public	Distance	515,000
16	California State University System	California, United States	North America	1857	Public	In-Person	457,992
17	Tribhuvan University	Kirtipur, Nepal	Asia	1959	Public	In-Person	454,065 (2021/22)
18	University of the Punjab	Lahore, Pakistan	Asia	1882	Public	In-Person	450,000
19	Dr. B R Ambedkar Open University	Telangana, India	Asia	1982	Public	Distance	450,000
20	State University System of Florida	Florida, United States	North America	1954	Public	In-Person	430,000
21	University System of Ohio	Ohio, United States	North America	2007	Public	In-Person	429,310
22	University of Delhi	Delhi, India	Asia	1922	Public	In-Person/Distance	700,000
23	Payame Noor University	Iran	Asia	1987	Public	Distance/In-Person	400,000
24	Sikkim Manipal University	Sikkim, India	Asia	1995	Private	In-Person	390,000
25	University of South Africa	Pretoria, South Africa	Africa	1873	Public	Distance	370,000
26	State University of New York System	New York, United States	North America	1948	Public	In-Person	363,612
27	National Autonomous University of Mexico	Mexico City, Mexico	North America	1551	Public	In-Person	356,530
28	National Centre for Distance Education	France	Europe	1939	Public	Distance	350,000
29	University System of Georgia	Georgia, United States	North America	1931	Public	In-Person	318,027
30	University of Buenos Aires	Buenos Aires, Argentina	South America	1821	Public	In-Person	316,050

The enrollment numbers listed above are the sum of undergraduate and graduate students in active enrollment. The universities included above confer degrees of bachelor-level or higher and either share a central board of governance and a single chancellor or president or confer degrees with the same institution name.

Globally, this list of largest universities by enrollment in the world includes total active enrollment across all campuses and off-campus study.