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Established in 1988, the Tehran-based open university has grown to be among the largest universities in the world.

Courses are offered in social science, education, management, economics and accounting, English, humanities and basic sciences. The majority of courses are taught in Persian, while some are taught in Arabic.

A network of around 500 centres is run from one of only three buildings in Iran.

Since 1990 the university has created centres in Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Comoros and the United Arab Emirates with plans for further development in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria. PNU is a member of CINVU, the Islamic Network of Open Universities, established in 2011.

There are a range of sports, religious and cultural activities available at the university for students. Payame Noor University has more than 21 student scientific associations

Admission to the university is competitive. Students mist submit their GPA and the National University Entrance Exam result. International students are required to take the Standard Persian Language Proficiency Test (SAMFA test), to show their Persian language proficiency.