Common questions, answered directly

The OCN is how IIT Kharagpur delivers its own credit-bearing programmes to learners at partner institutions. Micro-Specialisations are what it has published so far — other programme formats may follow.

No. OCN programmes are credit-bearing certificate programmes that IIT Kharagpur designs, grades and certifies. Completing one does not admit you to the Institute and is not an Institute degree.

You get an OCN Student Identity Card and an OCN email address while the programme runs. That is not the same as being a student in the Institute’s regular degree programmes.

You may receive OCN Alumni Status, at the Institute’s discretion. It belongs to the Outreach Course Network and is separate from alumni status tied to the Institute’s regular degree programmes.

No. Every credential follows IIT Kharagpur’s own policies; the Institute gives it at its discretion, not automatically. See the full disclaimer.

No. OCN programmes run only through partners the Institute has onboarded — see the partner register.

Undergraduates at the partner institution, alongside their existing degree — it doesn’t replace it. Each OCN programme has its own prerequisites, published with the programme under current offerings.

It isn’t. The partner’s degree programme is entirely that institution’s own responsibility. IIT Kharagpur’s part is delivering the specific OCN programmes to that partner’s learners — nothing more, and no award, endorsement or affiliation with the degree itself.

Check the partner register, kept current by the Outreach Office. Not on the list, not a partner — write to deanor@iitkgp.ac.in if you need to check.

ProofSlate runs the network day to day — onboarding partners, coordinating faculty, and handling governance and brand compliance across the network. It doesn’t set curriculum or grade anything; that stays with IIT Kharagpur.

Two, signed together rather than one instead of the other: a bilateral agreement with ProofSlate, and a tripartite agreement with IIT Kharagpur, the partner and ProofSlate, at the IIT Kharagpur campus. Both are on The Network page.

No. You keep your students, records, local mentoring, degree ownership and calendar. The network handles faculty coordination, course design, assessment, certification and the delivery platform. No new department, no new hiring, no change to your degree.

An IIT Kharagpur department writes a stack of courses — today, IIT Kharagpur publishes these as Micro-Specialisations. Credits typically run twelve or more, one credit per twelve contact hours, across one to three semesters, sometimes with a capstone or lab. Full course stacks are under current offerings.

Recorded lectures from IIT Kharagpur faculty plus live sessions, on the ProofSlate platform. IIT Kharagpur usually sets and marks weekly assignments and quizzes, plus an end-of-term evaluation.

IIT Kharagpur designs OCN programmes for NEP 2020, the Academic Bank of Credits and the National Credit Framework, so credits can carry forward. Your home institution decides whether they actually transfer into your degree, not IIT Kharagpur.