The Open University of Tanzania was established by an Act of Parliament No. 17 of 1992. The Act became operational on 1st March, 1993 by publication of Notice No. 55 in the official gazette. The First Chancellor was officially installed in a full ceremony on 19th January, 1994. Act No.17 of 1992 has now been replaced by the Open University of Tanzania Charter, effectively from January 1st, 2007, which is in line with the University Act No.7 of 2005.

The Open University of Tanzania is the first university in the whole of the East Africa region to offer educational programs through Open and Distance Learning mode. This makes OUT peculiar from conventional residential universities. Through Open and Distance Learning, OUT allows flexible learning environment leading to protracted periods of course completion. OUT offers different academic programs which are certificates, diplomas, degrees and postgraduate courses. Educational Delivery is attained through various means of communication such as broadcasting, telecasting, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), correspondence, enhanced face to face, seminars, contact programs or the combination of any two or more of such means.

The university operates through a network of 30 Regional Centres including Rwanda at Kibungo OUT Regional Centre and more than 70 Study Centres in Tanzania and abroad including Coordination Centres in Tanzania Islands – Unguja and Pemba in Zanzibar. Also there are International Coordination Centres including in Kenya at Egerton University and College of Human Resources Management all based in Nairobi, Triumphant College in Namibia, Uganda at Martyrs University and Malawi College of Distance Education (MCDE) so as to address the emerging national, regional and global challenges which emanate from the fast changing perceptions and world cultural, social and economic outlooks. The University hosts three centres that include The Centre for Economics and Community Economic Development (CECED), The ACDE Technical Committee on Collaboration (ACDE-TCC), and the SADC-ODL Centre of Specialization for Teacher Education.

OUT has cumulatively managed to enroll more than 103,000 students and successfully graduated more than 26,000 students with a record high in 2015/16 graduation whereby 4,474 students from 17 countries graduated. The 2014/15 graduations proudly assembled graduates from 28 countries. Currently, the University has an estimated total of over 35,500 active students spread in all the continents.

The university runs Faculties, Institutes and directorates as follows; the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), Faculty of Education (FED), Faculty of Science, Technology and Environmental Studies (FSTES), Faculty of Law (FLW), Faculty of Business Management (FBM), Institute of Continuing Education (ICE), Institute of Educational and Management Technologies (IEMT), Open University of Tanzania Consultancy Bureau (OCB), Directorate of Undergraduate Studies (DUGS), Directorate of Quality Assurance and Control (DQAC), and the Directorate of Research and Postgraduate Studies (DPRS), Directorate of Communications and Marketing (DCM), the Examination Syndicate, Gender unit (GU) and the HIV/AIDs unit.

OUT welcomes you and facilitates most of you to learn while earning and provides “Affordable Quality Education for All”

Prof. Elifas Tozo Bisanda

Vice Chancellor