The Gujarat State Legislature passed Act No.14 of 1994 on April 13, 1994, establishing the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University (BAOU). On July 27, 1994, the Governor of Gujarat signed the bill. In terms of establishment, Babasaheb Ambedkar University Distance Education is the country’s seventh Open University. More than 1,00,000 students are enrolled in the University’s 72 programmes.

Ahmedabad is home to the university’s headquarters. The University has created a Regional Centre on the Rajkot campus of South Gujarat University and has begun the process of creating a Regional Centre on the Patan campus of North Gujarat University. There are more than 507 study centres at the university. It has authority over the entire state of Gujarat, India It is open to people of all classes, castes, creeds, religions, and genders.