The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) was established in Sept. 1985, by an Act of parliament with the objective of taking education, door-to-door, of a large segment of the populace of different vocation and profession. The primary emphasis here, is on innovation, flexibility and cost effectiveness. The university functions under the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Regional College of Nursing, Guwahati started acting as Study Centre for Post – Basic B.Sc. Nursing course in the year of 1996. In the year 2002 the college started functioning as a Programme Centre for B.Sc. Nursing in whole of the North Eastern region.