Milestones

2007

The International Open University (IOU) was test-launched online as a free diploma site for Islamic Studies and run as such for 3 years during which more than 15,000 students registered and took courses. Also in this interval, the material for its undergraduate course in Islamic Studies was taught on the ground, video and audio recorded, and prepared for online delivery at the Islamic Studies Academy, Doha, Qatar.

2010

The Bachelors of Arts in Islamic Studies (BAIS) course was launched in affiliation with WISHES University of the Philippines, who agreed to issue accredited degrees to IOU’s graduates on IOU’s behalf.

2012

IOU also affiliated with Muhammadiyyah University, Sukabumi, Indonesia, who also agreed to issue accredited degrees to IOU’s graduates on IOU’s behalf. Students were given the option take minors in Education, Economics, Psychology and Management.

2013

IOU was incorporated in Somalia and The Gambia. In the same year, Certificates and Diplomas in Education, Economics, Psychology, Management and Information Technology were offered by the University.

2014

The first batch of 86BAIS students graduated and IOU graduation ceremonies were conducted for the first time in history completely online.The Ministry of Education of Somalia issued IOU with a certificate of accreditation as a university of Somalia.In this year IOU also launched 3 new disciplines: Bachelors of Arts in Education, Bachelors of Science in Psychology, and a Bachelors of Science in Islamic Banking and Finance.

2015

The University launched Bachelors of Science in Information Technology (BIT), Bachelors of Arts in Business Administration (BBA) and a Masters of Arts in Islamic Studies (MAIS).The University was also awarded accreditation through a License for Operation from the Ministry of Higher Education of the Gambia. MOU’s were signed with leading universities in Pakistan.

2016

MOUs were signed with leading universities in Uganda and Nigeria.