During the 1990s a rising delivery method gaining popularity and frequently discussed was the
Open and Distance Education concept. There was a need to democratise education, paving the way for a wider population to have access to education at an affordable price. Consequently, in August 1999, the Minister of Education called upon Multimedia Technology Enhancement Operations Sdn. Bhd. (METEOR) to establish an
open university in Malaysia. METEOR was headed by Tan Sri Dr
Abdullah Sanusi Ahmad, who later on became the first Vice-Chancellor of Open University Malaysia. The action taken by the Minister of Education, Dato' Seri
Najib Tun Razak, resulted in the founding of Open University Malaysia (OUM) in August 2000. OUM initially opened its doors to 753 learners in 2001 as the first
open and
distance learning university in the country. OUM was officially launched by the then Prime Minister YAB Dato Seri Dr.
Mahathir Mohamad on August 26, 2002. More than two decades later in 2023, OUM had about 30,000 active students and produced more than 103,000 graduates. In the same year,
QS Stars had assessed OUM's online learning for three years and granted OUM a 5-Star rating . == Chancellors ==