The International Open University offers MA in Islamic Studies and it has launched its own PhD program Alhamdulillah. The details can be found here: https://iou.edu.gm/stream/phdis/

Alhamdulillah, IOU students receive a good quality Islamic education. A student who is sincerely committed will certainly acquire the correct understanding of the subjects taught and will be able to teach it to others. A student who has a degree or diploma in education will be able to teach Islamic Studies at any level after completing BAIS.

The International Open University is an online educational institution. The entire program is taught online via internet. Anyone from any part of the world can join easily and benefit from it, Insha Allaah.

Admission is open throughout the year. If a student is admitted and enrollment is closed, he/she will begin his/her studies the following semester.

The registration form is available here:

http://www.islamiconlineuniversity.com/campus/login/signup.php

You will get a reply form the registrar regarding your admission confirmation and fee payment details in a few days, Insha Allaah.

Before you begin the registration process, make sure you have the required scans (a scan of your HSC or certificate and a recent color photograph) ready on your PC.

Course waivers are possible only for the following courses

Arabic 100

This is a beginner’s course. You do not have to take this course if you can read and write Arabic well.

English 101 and 102:

-Bachelor’s degree, taught in English, with a major in English, Or
-Postgraduate degree (masters or doctorate), taught in English, with research conducted/submitted in academic English (thesis or dissertation)
Degree in English medium only does not qualify for a waiver. Those who possess these qualifications may submit the documents related to their study, along with the syllabus for evaluation by our instructor.

Computers 101:

A waiver for Computers 101 will be given to those applicants who have taken graduate level courses in computers. Those who possess these or similar qualifications may submit their college transcript for evaluation and approval by our instructor.

Note:

• Course waivers imply that you have sufficient knowledge in a particular area. Courses can be waived if it is determined that you have sufficient knowledge in that area to warrant a waiver. You must submit all necessary documentation to prove that you have sufficient knowledge in that area to warrant a waiver. If a course waiver is approved, the number of hours required for the degree remains the same. The waiver allows students the option of taking an elective course rather than a required core course.
• If you possess the above qualifications, you can upload the required documents after enrolling into the course. It will take a few days to process your request. Test scores such as TOEFL, IELTS, etc., alone are not enough to qualify you for a course waiver if you do not meet the above criteria.

The International Open University offers two terms each year.

Spring semester - March to July

Fall semester - September to January

The exact dates for the enrollment during the regular period, which is at the beginning of the semester, are announced on the site news before the semester begins. The early enrollment for those who want to enroll during the non-regular period can be accessed via this link.

In order to make the process easy for the students, IOU has translators available who will translate your documents (for some languages). Please check with us to see if we have a translator for the language your certificate is in. If we do not have translation services available for your language, your non-English high school transcripts and certificate must be fully translated into English and notarized by a notary. You must submit the original transcript along with the translated copy. A copy of the translated notarized copy should be uploaded during the online registration process.

To apply for the BAIS program, the candidate must have at least a high school diploma. The high school diploma must be scanned and uploaded along with a recent color passport size photograph. If the diploma and photo are not uploaded, your admission will not be confirmed.

The BAIS is a degree program for students who meet all the requirements mandated by the Somalian laws. The requirement to enter a bachelor’s degree program in any country is the completion of 12 years of study. To accommodate students who do not have a high school diploma but want to study in an organized Islamic Studies program and obtain a certificate, the IOU has the Open Education Program, which offers the same courses as the BAIS program. Students from both the BAIS degree program and the Open Education Program are taught in a similar manner and given the same course materials. Students can access the same supplementary sessions conducted by the same tutorial assistants. The only difference is in the certificate provided upon successful completion of the program. For more information, click here.

The semester registration fee is the same for any of these streams you may choose; whether it be mainstream study, Open Education Program or the alternative stream of Audit Courses. This is because the manner we conduct the study for all our students is the same.

To enable the students who do not wish to take exams but acquire the knowledge of Islamic studies taught in an organized structure, we have introduced the alternative stream of Audit courses. The Audit courses stream provides all the above opportunities of studies to a student but they are exempted from taking tests and exams and submitting assignments. If they wish, they can take the tests and research and submit assignments, but they will not fail if they do not do so.

Audit courses stream is for those people who want to complete the BAIS courses without having to prepare for exams. The duration of the semester is the same as for BAIS and so is the fee structure. After the semester completes, the students are graded for auditing the courses. And at the end of their study they are given a certificate of attendance from the IOU, in sha Allah.

No, this option is not available for the BAIS program.
The program can only be studied under a part-time or full-time study plan and can be completed in 4 years minimum.

No. English language certification is not a requirement for any of the IOU programs. However, you should be aware that English is the medium of instruction for the entire program and you need to have a good command over the language to enroll into the program. You must display the ability to communicate effectively in terms of reading, writing and speaking fluently in English. This is vital for your success as a university student.

Yes, these uncommon courses will appear on the student's permanent academic record with the final course mark and noted as "Additional Courses". However, they are not included in calculating the student's Grade Point Average and do not count towards the degree, diploma or certificate credit.

While it is quite difficult to keep track of this, we have been notified of some of our graduates pursuing postgraduate studies in Indonesia and Gambia.

The onus lies with the applicant seeking credit transfer externally to apply using the standard IOU-issued documents. In the motivation of the application, the student may naturally refer to an MoU in place.
The other university will follow their procedures to determine the validity and scope of the MoU. If the MoU explicitly cites credit transfer/recognition, then the applicant should not face challenges.

However, there are instances where admissions departments of partner universities might not grant credit transfer of some/all courses because the MoU might not have been intended for the purpose of credit transfer, or there could have been changes to syllabi that prevents credit transfer, as courses between IOU and partner university are no longer aligned. It would be best to check the conditions of the MoU in place with the specific partner university to explore its scope.

It is recommended that the IOU students try to have a high speed internet connection to make the best use of all the services. However, if a student is unable to obtain a high speed connection, we have audio and video lectures available which can be downloaded and saved to listen or watch later. However, as exams are required to be attempted online as well, you must arrange a high speed internet connection to submit exams successfully.

While it is quite difficult to keep track of this, we have been notified of some of our graduates pursuing postgraduate studies in Indonesia and Gambia.

The National Accreditation and Quality Assurance Authority (NAQAA) has granted the International Open University a three year Provisional License to operate as a higher education institution in The Gambia effective 29 April, 2019. This license also serves as an institutional accreditation of International Open University, the Gambia, by National Accreditation and Quality Assurance Authority.
Moreover, the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology has granted to the International Open University a license to operate an online university in The Gambia with effect from May 13, 2014. For more information about accreditation click on the given link https://iou.edu.gm/stream/accreditation/

There is no fee charged for course materials, which consists of a PDF file. Flash videos and mp3 audios are available for online streaming as well as for download. We also provide an E-Library for students free of charge. If a student wishes to purchase hard copies of the required texts, they may do so from external sources.

Bachelor's Degree can be completed in four years period.
Full-time registration*
Minimum period: 4 years
Maximum duration: 6 years
Part-time registration
Minimum period: 6 years
Maximum duration: 9 years

In order to join IOU’s Bachelor’s program, the students must have concluded their high school qualification in the medium of English.

The course content is explained very clearly with the help of lectures recorded by the instructors and recorded supplementary sessions conducted by the teachers. You can contact the teacher if you have any questions about course content. Although the courses are simplified as much as possible, it is preferable that you first register for a General Diploma in Islamic studies course https://diploma.iou.edu.gm/opencampus/ and try to complete at least one course. If you are able to understand the lectures and texts of the course, then you should be able to study in the program with no difficulty inshAllah.

Please note that If you realize later that you are not able to understand course content and need to withdraw from the program, there will be no refund. We, therefore, request that you pay only after careful consideration.

No, students cannot join this program if they do not meet the admission requirements.

This program is accredited by NAQAA, the accreditation authority in the Gambia. Students originating from other countries may have to complete additional studies and/or training, or fulfill additional requirements to be recognized in their own countries. Such applicants and students are encouraged to validate the recognition they may receive in their countries with the registered and accredited IOU Bachelors degree prior to registration and graduation.

In order to join IOU’s Bachelor’s program, the students must have concluded their high school qualification in the medium of English.

In order to be admitted to our accredited online Bachelor degree, the candidate must have completed high school. The high school certificate/diploma is the credential awarded to a secondary school student who successfully completes high school level (approximately 12 years of study) . Those who have completed further studies and have degrees beyond high school may submit those certificates if they no longer have their high school certificate with them.

The high school diploma must be scanned and uploaded along with a recent color passport size photograph and photo ID. If the diploma and photo are not uploaded, your admission will not be processed. Additionally, the attested copy of these documents are required to be sent to IOU Head Office before the completion of the program.

Registration is open all year round though we advise you to register right away. You will be able to register in the current semester if the deadline has not passed. If the deadline has passed, you will be registered for the following semester and you may enroll into courses via the early enrollment system.

Spring Semester
Early Registration Period: 1st Oct - 28th Feb
Semester commencement: 1st March
Regular Registration/Enrollment Period: 1st March - 29th March

Fall Semester:
Early Registration Period:: 1st April - 31st August
Semester commencement: 1st September
Regular Registration/Enrollment Period: 1st September - 28th Sept

The International Open University is an online educational institution. The entire program is taught online via the internet. Anyone from any part of the world can join easily and benefit from it, In sha Allaah.

Admission is open throughout the year. If a student is admitted and enrollment is closed, he/she will begin his/her studies the following semester.

Please visit this link to know the complete admission process https://iou.edu.gm/stream/process/

In order to make the process easy for the students, IOU has translators available who will translate your documents (for some languages, e.g Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Bangali, Bahasa, Russian, Malay). If we do not have translation services available for your language, your non-English high school transcripts and certificates must be fully translated into English and notarized by a notary. You must submit the original transcript along with the translated copy. A copy of the translated notarized copy should be uploaded during the online registration process.

While it is possible to study using smartphones, it might not be an efficient way to do so. This is because certain coursework like Assignments are required to be written and lots of research needs to be done to write the assignments. Hence, it is better that you use Laptop/computer to do the assignments.

Click and select your county of residence to see the semester registration fee: https://iou.edu.gm/tuition-fees/
These are the only fees we charge per semester. The course material is provided free of cost online Additionally, there is an E-Library provided as a study aid for the students. For new students: No matter when the semester is scheduled to start, once you complete the payment, you will be given access to course material through the Early Enrollment system.

The International Open University is an online educational institution. The entire program is taught online via the internet. Anyone from any part of the world can join easily and benefit from it, Insha'Allah.

This option is not available for the BAIS Program.

While the BAIS is not structured to be a professional degree, a graduate of this program may complete additional studies and/or training (as required by local authorities in students’ countries) to pursue any of the following career paths: Islamic and religious studies school teacher, Islamic chaplain/cleric, lecturer/professor, Islamic legal advisor, Islamic finance advisor.

This program is accredited by NAQAA, the accreditation authority in the Gambia. Students originating from other countries may have to complete additional studies and/or training, or fulfill additional requirements to be recognized in their own countries. Such applicants and students are encouraged to validate the recognition they may receive in their countries with the registered and accredited IOU Bachelors degree prior to registration and graduation.

No, a student cannot take additional courses under this program.

No, Course waivers are not applicable for the BAIS Program.
Credit transfer will only be processed for the courses studied and completed with a passing grade at an accredited university or college. Credit transfers will