Warmest Greetings and Welcome to School of Distance Education!

It brings me great pleasure to introduce you to the School of Distance Education (SDE), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Incepted in 1971, SDE is the pioneering institution of Open Distance Learning (ODL) in Malaysia, and we have since graduated over 27,000 graduates. We currently have 4,735 undergraduate students from all over the country. Our multidisciplinary curriculum is tailored for working adults, accredited by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA), and supported by 68 dedicated academic staffs and 39 administrative staffs.

At SDE, we are not just passionate about your academic success, but we also concerned with your general wellbeing. The school offers a wide range of academic and non-academic supports that will make completing your academic studies stimulating, pleasurable, and enjoyable. We work consistently to ensure our students have access to current and innovative learning technologies and supports, to enable them to develop the skills they need to advance their career. Furthermore, we are not only committed to academic excellence, but we also strike for academic diversity, equity, and accessibility. Therefore, SDE has a large composition of students from various socio-economic and occupational backgrounds, including professional, managerial, administration, law enforcement, military, services, job seekers and even retirees. We embrace the diversity and maintain academic accessibility with integrity as an essential component of our vision and mission.

Our efforts have been recognized through winning the Malaysia’s Best Multidisciplinary Open and Distance Learning Institution in Malaysia Education + TVET Award 2022. This recognition highlights SDE as one of the best ODL institutions in Malaysia that have excelled in providing some of the best multidisciplinary ODL programmes in the country.

In addition, SDE is also expanding her role as a school of academic excellence with transformative impacts on society and industries that contribute to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since her inception, SDE has actively sealed MoUs, grants and collaboration with partners from other universities, industries, and communities. With these strategic collaborations and partnerships, SDE has unlocked multiple academic opportunities like joint research, study visits, industrial placement, community project, and co-supervision of postgraduate students. Our academic successes have drawn over 230 local and international students to pursue their postgraduate qualifications with us.

Do explore this website or get in touch with us for more information about our academic programmes and areas of collaboration. We look forward to hearing from you and working with you towards your success.

Thank you and best wishes,

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zulnaidi Yaacob
Dean
School of Distance Education