BCom Distance Education Courses – Correspondence BCom (Commerce)
BCom Distance Education Courses – Correspondence BCom (Commerce) – Scope, Exams, Eligibility, Admissions & More..
Overview Of Distance/Correspondence BCom ( Bachelor Of Commerce):
Bachelor of Commerce aka B.Com is an undergraduate course that essentially deals with subjects such as economics, management, finance, accountancy, marketing, banking and other such related fields.
A B.Com student is given a crash course on the various aspects of a business and is imparted the necessary skills required to lead a successful business venture. Right from being taught effective managerial skills to be given a solid foundation in various financial principles, B.Com is the ideal program for aspiring entrepreneurs and students who wish to make a career in the vast financial spectrum.
It’s a widely known fact that B.Com is one of the most popular undergraduate courses offered and the same trend applies in the Distance Learning arena. So what if you don’t have the time to attend regular classes as part of the regular B.Com course? You can get a B.Com degree by simultaneously juggling various commitments through effective Correspondence/Distance Education Programs.
There are various distance learning institutes and open universities that offer a comprehensive B.Com course that comes along with a wide range of specializations.
You must be wondering, what’s the difference between a regular and distance B.Com courses? Well, the good news is that there isn’t much. The course structure, subjects and eligibility criteria are quite similar. The only thing that differs is the duration, examination procedure and degree certificate.
Exams are conducted at designated exam centers as allotted by the institutes while the certificate will be awarded from an open university. It should be noted that it holds similar weightage as a regular B.Com course.
Let’s dive a little deeper then, shall we?
Also Read:B.A Distance Education Program – Eligibility, Course Details, Streams, Scope & Opportunities
Duration of Distance Bachelor of Commerce Program
A basic distance B.Com program is 3 years long with a 4-year program also being offered by some institutes. The 4-year program includes an extra year for specialization purposes and upon completion of it; a student is given a Bachelor of Commerce Honors (B.Com. Hons.) Degree.
Most institutes though offer a 3-year course with many specializations up for the taking. However, a student is given a maximum of 6 years to complete the program from the year of enrolment. It should be noted that not all institutes offer the extended period and you must check with the Institute for a confirmation regarding the same.
Eligibility Criteria and Admission Procedure
A candidate should have completed their 10+2 examinations with a minimum score of 50%. For the reserved categories (ST/SC/OBCs), the minimum cut-off percentage is 40%. The cut-off percentage varies depending on the institute; however, it rarely exceeds 50% as it mostly ranges between 35-50%.
Coming to the admission procedure, the first and most important step is to pick the right institute. A good amount of time should be spent researching about various institutes and it should match your requirements. Just to name a few, they include – budget, exam center location, facilities, the scope of the degree and placement opportunities.
Most institutes accept students on the basis of merit (12th Standard scores) and it is advisable that you get a good score. Some of the most reputed institutes even conduct their own entrance exams along with an interview round as part of their admission procedure. A majority of them though would happily accept your 12th-grade scores and would just need a passing certificate.
Streams for B.Com Distance Education
There are many streams/specializations in B.Com Distance Education that a student can pursue. The duration for all the streams is 3 years unless it’s an Honors program. Given below are the most popular streams:
- Accounting and Finance
- Marketing Management
- Secretarial Practice
- Computer Applications
- Corporate Affairs and Management
- Financial and Cost Accounting
- Foreign Trade
- Business Studies
- Finance and Investment
- International Business
- Managerial Economics
- Supply Chain Management
- Export and Import Management
- Bank Management
- Taxation
- Corporate Secretaryship
It should be noted that not every university and institute offer the aforementioned streams and the offerings differ depending on the institute.
Subjects and Curriculum
As the name of the course itself suggests, B.Com focuses on commerce and is a very business-centric course. It gives the students a solid foundation in different areas such as Business Management, Finance, Accounting, and Computer Applications.
The program usually includes 1 or more compulsory subject (mostly languages) and 4 or more electives which differ from institute to institute. While the subjects change according to the specialization, there are a set of core subjects that are offered by all institutes. These include:
- Business Economics
- Language
- Business Organization and Management
- Business Statistics
- Financial Management Fundamentals
- Principles of Accountancy
- Banking Theory and Practice
- Business Laws
- Advanced Accountancy
- Income Tax/Taxation
- Auditing
- E-Business
- Management and Cost Accounting
- Science and Technology
- Business Environment
The course is structured in such a way that the specialization subjects are featured in the third year of the course. Additionally, some institutes also offer basic foundation or elective courses in Computers, Sociology, Humanities, Environmental Studies, Teaching, etc.
Now that you have an overview of what a Distance B.Com program looks like, the next step is to familiarize yourself with the entire process of distance education and how it would pertain to B.Com. Don’t even break a sweat, it’s quite efficient. Let me walk you through it. (The focus would be on Distance Education Programs in Bangalore)
Course Material and Online Learning for Distance Bachelor of Commerce Program
The biggest advantage of pursuing a Distance Education Program is that everything you need would land up at your doorstep. You can get everything you need, and I mean literally everything, without even taking more than ten steps!
Most Open Universities and Institutes send the course materials which include notes and other study material through a post. All you need to do is pay the necessary fees for the materials and provide your address and you will get it delivered to you. However, a handful of institutes would have different methods of handing over the required study material. One way would be to collect it from a center granted by the university. The other way would be to buy it yourself from the list given by the university. It is always good to check with the institute or university concerning the approach. The list of textbooks that need to be referred will also be provided by the university.
The lectures can be streamed online, which could be attended live or watched in recorded formats later on. You can also get your doubts cleared via links provided by the Institute on their website.
I know what you’re thinking; any study is incomplete without proper examination and assessment. What about that? I’m glad you asked…
Examinations for Distance Bachelor of Commerce Program
As it was mentioned above, the university will allot examination centers based on your location and availability. All you have to do is to have completed the minimum requirement which is to have finished a certain amount of course time before being eligible to take the BCom Distance Education Program exams. The schedule of the exam differs depending on the university or institute.
The candidate would be required to pay the necessary exam fees if required and of course, prepare for it! The candidate is given the liberty to choose the subjects of examination and will go on to the next year regardless of the outcome of the exams. You would have to clear your exams eventually though, duh! To get a degree certificate at the end of the program, the student would have to accumulate a certain number of credits as prescribed by the university which will be calculated based on lectures, exams and assignments. Talking about assignments…
Assignments
Assignments and theory exams go hand in hand. The Institute or University takes both into consideration while calculating final grades.
You can submit your assignments via the links given by the university or by post. Some of the universities hold the right to debar you from taking the exams if you fail to submit your Distance BCom assignments in time. Don’t muck around and take the assignments lightly folks.
Scope and Job Opportunities
Here’s why pursuing B.com in distance education gives you an edge over a regular course. ‘Flexibility of time’ supersedes all other advantages that come along with this mode of education. Alongside regular degree course, you also get to pursue the most sought-after professional courses like CA (Chartered Accountancy), CS (Company Secretary), CWA (Cost & Work Accounting). According to a survey, in B. com stream alone approximately 9.5 lakhs students graduate in India every year. A graduate with a career-enhancing, professional certificate like CA stands out in this massive crowd.
Regular B.com courses and distance-education programs are alike when it comes to career or higher-education opportunities. With the skill sets in areas like finance and management that constitutes the backbone of all sorts business, B.com graduates are the most sought-after potential-employees by the world’s top banks and Multinational Corporate companies.
MCom and MBA/Distance MBA are the most common PG courses pursued after B. Com. Although both the courses are commerce related, M. Com primarily focuses on financial subjects while Management is the central concept of most of the MBA subjects. While B.Com graduates earn approximately 3 to 7 lakhs per annum, professionals like CA, CS and MBA/M. Com graduates earn almost the double of it, perhaps even more.
Here’s a list of top 10 job roles for B. Com graduates
- Financial management and Analysis
- Accounting
- Auditing
- Tax Advisory Services
- Stockbroker
- Commercial Banking
- International Banking
- Insurance Services
- Telecommunication Services and BPO’s
- Government Services
Mode of Education/Learning
You have people who wish they could rewind back to their college days and then you have those who absolutely hate a classroom setup and would rather study independently. You may also be one of those people who was forced to drop out from college or couldn’t even go to one due to some unfortunate reason and are now too busy to even think of completing a degree.
Whichever category you fall into, Distance Learning is the best thing that could ever happen to you. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing and how old you are. You could be a house-maker or have a full-time job but still, have that prestigious degree certificate as the foundation of your resume. Distance Education Programs can make that possible as you can study any course, in this case, B.Com, by sitting in your living or bedroom. In hindsight, you can study while traveling or in any remote location where there is internet connectivity.
The Internet is the substructure of Distance Education as Learning happens through online channels, tools and platforms. Learning Management Systems such as Moodle, Adobe Captivate Prime, Google Classroom, Edmodo and online learning platforms such as Coursera, Udemy, EdX, Khan Academy has made gaining education an uncomplicated process.
Trust me if you’re still hesitant, getting a B.Com through any of the top Distance Education Institutes is one of the best decisions you will make. Since Bcom Distance Course is more of a theoretical course and not a technical one, all you would need is the study material that the distance education open university/institute provides you. It’s a darn sweet deal if you ask me!
If you have made up your mind, here is a list of list of open universities and institutes in Bangalore that offer distance-education courses:
- Karnataka Open State University
- Bangalore University
- Jain University
- GITAM University
- Mahatma Gandhi University
- Geetanjali University
- SLN Correspondence College
- Manipal Correspondence College
- Bright International Education Trust
- Sikkim Manipal University
2 thoughts on “BCom Distance Education Courses – Correspondence BCom (Commerce)”
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