NOUN: Duration of Our Undergraduate Programs (Years/Semesters)

NOUN maintains equivalent durations for its courses as full-time programs offered by conventional universities, with varying lengths based on entry-level, ranging from 2 to 5 years, without extending the duration beyond that of traditional full-time study.

If you've read a few posts about part-time programs, particularly those discussing the number of years for any course on a part-time basis, you must have become confused trying to obtain the National Open University form too. This is because NOUN, just like any distance-learning university, is a part-time program.

The most common thing among these part-time courses, at various universities, is that if the full-time course is for 4 years, the part-time equivalent of the same course will add one more year, making it a five-year course on a part-time basis. Similarly, a 5-year full-time course will take six years on a part-time basis.

Except for a daily part-time program (e.g., Federal University of Oye Ekiti), you should generally expect part-time studies to take more years than full-time ones. I explained this better in my post, "How Many Years is a Part-time Programme?"

So, turning to NOUN now, you might want to know if each of their courses also adds one more year or even more. This is the question this post aims to answer among others. In the end, you'll know the number of years the undergraduate courses of the National Open University will require - be it admission from 100 level or direct admission from 200 level and postgraduate courses as well.

NOUN Retains the Same Duration for Its Courses as Full-Time Programs

The National Open University programs, even though offered on a distance-learning/part-time basis, will not add more years to the duration you would spend as a full-time student in any other conventional university. A full-time 4-year course remains 4 years at NOUN, as does a 5-year course.

Firstly, the university offers 3-year, 4-year, and 5-year courses depending on the entry-level and the duration of the course. This is familiar, just like in other universities running full-time programs. If you're admitted as an SSCE holder, you're starting from 100-level, so you're expected to spend 4 years for a 4-year course. Candidates who are A'level holders (e.g., OND, Diploma, HND if unrelated course) admitted through 200-level direct entry will spend 3 more years for the same course. Similarly, candidates with HND (in related courses) or BSc will be admitted through 300-level direct entry and will spend 2 more years. Details of this are in my post, "NOUN: How We Admit HND, ND, NCE Applicants"

We can summarize the years for NOUN programs as in the table below:

NOUN Courses and Their Duration

Any of the university's undergraduate faculty of Agriculture courses run for 5 years. Courses are listed below:

1. B.Agric Animal Science
2. B.Agric Agricultural Extension and Rural Development
3. B.Agric Agricultural Economics and Agro-Business
4. B.Agric Crop Science
5. B.Agric Soil and Land Resources Management

Accordingly, to graduate, a student shall have undergone or 5 years of study depending on his entry point, including one practical year of 12 months. The activities of the practical year are expected to include periodic seminars on the student’s work as a way of stimulating interest, in addition to the presentation of a written report graded at the end of the year.

Any of the university's undergraduate faculty of Arts courses run for 4 years. Courses are listed below:

1. B.A. English
2. B.A. French
3. B.A. Arabic
4. B.A. Hausa
5. B.A. Igbo
6. B.A. Yoruba
7. B.A. Christian Theology
8. B.A. Islamic Studies
9. B.A. Philosophy

Any of the university's undergraduate faculty of Education courses run for 4 years. Courses are listed below:

1. B.A.(ED) Early Childhood Education
2. B.A.(ED) English
3. B.A.(ED) French
4. B.A.(ED) Primary Education
5. B.Sc.(ED) Business Education
6. B.Sc.(ED) Agricultural Science
7. B.Sc.(ED) Biology
8. B.Sc.(ED) Chemistry
9. B.Sc.(ED) Computer Science
10. B.Sc.(ED) Integrated Science
11. B.Sc.(ED) Mathematics
12. B.Sc.(ED) Physics
13. B.LIS Library and Information Science
14. B.Sc.(Ed) Health Education
15. B.Sc.(Ed) Human Kinetics

For a four-year education degree course, a minimum of 120 units is required for graduation, and for a direct three-year course, a minimum of 90 units should be required for graduation.

Any of the university's undergraduate faculty of Health Sciences courses run for 4 years (the only entry-level available is 200-level and only for holders of RN, Diploma, etc.). Courses are listed below:

1. B.NSc. Nursing Science
2. B.Sc. Public Health
3. B.Sc. Environmental Health Science

The university's undergraduate faculty of Law has only one course (Law) which runs for years. However, as of now, the course is suspended until further notice.

Any of the university's undergraduate faculty of Management Sciences courses run for 4 years. Courses are listed below:

1. B.Sc. Business Administration
2. B.Sc. Public Administration
3. B.Sc. Marketing
4. B.Sc. Accounting
5. B.Sc. Banking and Finance
6. B.Sc. Entrepreneurship
7. B.Sc. Cooperative and Rural Development

Any of the university's undergraduate faculty of Sciences courses run for 4 years. Courses are listed below:

1. B.Sc. Environmental Science and Resource Management
2. B.Sc. Mathematics
3. B.Sc. Maths and Computer Science
4. B.Sc. Biology
5. B.Sc. Chemistry
6. B.Sc. Physics

Any of the university's undergraduate faculty of Social Sciences courses run for 4 years. Courses are listed below:

1. B.Sc. Economics
2. B.Sc. International Relations
3. B.Sc. Mass Communication
4. B.Sc. Broadcast Journalism
5. B.Sc. Film Production
6. B.Sc. Political Science
7. B.Sc. Tourism Studies
8. B.Sc. Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
9. B.Sc. Criminology and Security Studies
10. B.Sc. Development Studies

Students are required to complete a minimum of 120 units for a four-year program and 90 units for a three-year program, 60 of which must come from the student’s discipline.

Official References to Years of NOUN Programs

According to NOUN management, the NUC’s general minimum credit load required for graduation for 3-year and 4-year programs is 90 credit units and 120 credit units respectively. For 5-year programs, it is 150 units. Nevertheless, specific programs do have specific load capacities. It is to be noted that these minimum graduating credit loads do not include the GST courses.

Similarly, it's stated that the minimum length of the school’s undergraduate programs for a 200-level entry level is 3 years (6 semesters), and for 100 entry level is 4 years (8 semesters).

For any technology/engineering course, the maximum length of time allowed to obtain a degree shall be fourteen semesters for the 5-year degree program and twelve semesters for students admitted directly into the 200 level. For extensions beyond the maximum period, special permission of the Senate shall be required on the recommendation of the School.

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