The University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) was established on 23 February 1995 as the fifth constituent university of the University of the Philippines System. Its offices and mandate is to provide education opportunities to individuals aspiring for higher education and improved qualifications but who are unable to take advantage of traditional modes of education.
Specifically, the UPOU provides quality higher and continuing education to Filipinos through distance education. Its mission is to give its students formal qualification, as well as to develop in them the discipline and capability to become lifelong learners who are at home in today’s knowledge society.