Distance education is now considered as one of the most effective method of instruction in all advanced countries of the world. Academic of all shades acknowledge that it is learning which is important and not the channel of education.The conventional system of education has undoubtedly contributed significantly both to the advancement and dissemination of knowledge, yet the fact remains that the conventional system has neither been able to solve the problem of access, nor of equity and equality. The education through correspondence or distance open educational system is an alternative mode of imparting instruction, which has helped the country to meet the demand for education of millions of people at different levels.

The Himachal Pradesh University took the bold step right in the beginning and a Directorate of Correspondence Courses was set up after the establishment of the University. Not only this, the University emerged as a pioneering institution in launching the programmes of distance education at the postgraduate level. In India, the H.P. University it was the first University to start Master of Arts in different disciplines and Master of Education and Master of Commerce. Over the years, its Directorate of Correspondence Courses gradually absorbed the emerging philosophy of distance education and adopted multi-media approach for imparting instruction. In view of this, the Directorate of Correspondence Course has been recharistened as the International Centre for Distance Educational and Open Learning (ICDEOL). It is located on the Campus of the University at Summer Hill. It has its own independent complex consisting of two buildings having five stories each.