Being over the age of 40, Universitas Terbuka (UT) continues to be the pioneer and consistently gives access to quality distance higher education with no exceptions to anyone wanting to study at state universities. While serving in the education sector of Indonesia, UT has gone through a lot of phases, until now when UT has gained a reputation among the public, especially the younger generation. The year 2024 becomes a special moment, where UT created history by serving over 671 thousand active students. This achievement strengthens UT’s position as the main option for people who dream of quality education with flexibility and affordability.
As a form of gratitude for this achievement, UT held the event “Tasyakuran for Number of UT Students in 2024” on Friday, December 20, 2024, at Universitas Terbuka Lake. This event was attended by the Rector of UT, Prof. Ojat Darojat, M.Bus., Ph.D., Former Rector, Prof. Atwi Suparman, M.Sc., Vice Rectors of UT, Deans, Directors, and other leaders in UT, and UT staffs. With a different concept for the event, this year carried the theme “Fishing at UT Lake” which is not merely a moment of togetherness, but also as a way of strengthening solidarity between UT staffs.
In his remarks, UT Rector, Prof. Ojat Darojat, M.Bus., Ph.D., expressed his appreciation for every staff member who contributed to this achievement. “Alhamdulillah, achieving the target for the number of students is incredible, this has never been achieved in UT’s 40 years of existence.” said Prof. Ojat. He reminded of UT’s journey that’s full of dynamics, starting from the massive bump in the 90s when UT got the mandate from the government to hold an equality program for D2-PGSD after the closing of the SPG and SGO, until the next bump in 2003 when S1-PGSD was opened.
“The government regulations that required teachers to have at least a bachelor’s degree (S1) became the main pushing force of UT’s growth in students in the past. From kindergarten to high school teachers, they had no choice but to study at UT.” he said. Now, the trend of the rise of the number of students keeps on growing until it reached 671 thousand active students at UT. “With the recent exponential trend, we’re certain that we’ll be reaching 1 million active students in recent future.” Prof. Ojat hoped.
“The spreading information of UT that expands through different platforms introduce UT to the people, especially high school graduates, millennials, gen Z. Even gen Alpha now knows UT as the state university with open and distance learning and affordable tuition.” he added with optimism.
UT proves that higher education is no longer exclusive. Anyone from anywhere and at any time can study at this trusted state university. With UT, the dream of having higher education has never been easier to achieve.
Everyone can study at UT!
