Department of Distance Education was established in 1968 and has been a pioneer institute imparting education through the distant mode and has been the second institute in the country to adopt the non-formal mode of imparting education. For the first time in the country, this department offered regional language as a medium of instruction and examination. Presently, the department is managing 46 multi-faculty programmes. Student enrollment in the department is as high as nineteen to twenty thousand every year.

The success of the department can be judged from the fact that it has reached the zenith not only at the national but also at the international level. There has been the continuous increase in the number of foreign students getting enrolled in various courses run by the department.

The department is proud of its students who have always performed exceptionally well in the University Examinations, lending credence to the fact that the distance mode of learning is second to none.

SALIENT FEATURES OF DISTANCE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
1. Carefully planned lessons written by eminent scholars are supplied to the students in printed form regularly.
2. Regular and efficient evaluation for Response-Sheets/Projects submitted by the students is done by the teachers of the department.
3. Personal Contact Programmes to provide intensive classroom instructions, discussions and personal guidance to the students.
4. Text books and other reading material is issued from a well-equipped Departmental Library.
5. Library facility is also available for the students at Library-cum-Study Centres established by the Department at Punjabi University Regional Centre, Bathinda, Government Barjindra College, Faridkot, S.D. College, Barnala, Desh Bhagat College, Bardwal (Dhuri), Gurmat Sagar Trust, Village Sahota, Sri Anandpur Sahib, and Gurudwara Singh Sabha, Ahmedabad (Gujarat).
6. To supplement the material provided through lessons, video lessons are also made available to the post-graduate students.
7. The prepared lessons include suggested readings and important questions at the end to motivate candidates to read independently and supplement their knowledge.
8. Merit Scholarships, National Merit Scholarships, are awarded to the eligible students.
9. The students belonging to Scheduled Caste Category whose parents' income is less than two lakhs per annum and the students belonging to Backward Classes whose parents' income is less than one lakh per annum will be entitled to fee benefits according to latest rules of Punjab Government.