Open universities are higher education institutions that offer degrees with low or no entry requirements. They are designed to offer equal opportunities to develop individuals’ abilities, improve their level of education, and retrain for a new career.  They are particularly useful for:

• Former students who have graduated from prior studies with low grades but seeking to continue their higher education.
• Learners who do not have a credential from secondary school.
• Learners unable to travel to a physical location to study. Open universities typically offer distance learning studies—courses taught fully online or with materials sent to the learner’s preferred location.
• Disabled learners seeking educational services.

The first European university to give students the option of open and online education was the Open University UK created in 1970. Many countries have since embraced this trend. Examples of open universities from which millions of students have graduated include:

• The Open University UK 
• Open University of the Netherlands
• Open University of Cyprus
• Hellenic Open University

Online learning universities are higher education institutions that have more admission requirements than open universities but are still flexible about learners’ background. Examples of online learning universities that offer degree diplomas:

• Royal Roads University
• Nottingham Trent University Online
• Walden University
• Kettering University
• The University of Law

Both open and online learning universities offer online degrees, but they have different degrees of openness to learners. Open universities generally accept any student, with no age limits and no prior education requirements. At some open universities, students cannot complete a degree but the credits they earn can be transferred towards an academic degree. Online learning universities have entry requirements similar to those of traditional universities and they guarantee that learners will earn an academic degree if they fulfil the course requirements.