Anna University was established on 4th September 1978 and offers a wide range of undergraduate, postgraduate, and Doctoral programs in various fields like Engineering, Technology, Architecture, and Applied Sciences applicable to the current and projected needs of society. Anna University is an internationally accredited institution that has trained professionals with high technical knowledge, professional skills, and ethical values. Along with promoting research and disseminating knowledge, it promotes cooperation between the academic and industrial communities. It promotes economic and social development by producing high-quality manpower through excellence in teaching, research, and consultancy. In tune with the developing global trend of increasing conventional University instructional modes to self-learning and distance education methodology, this University has created the CDE Anna University (Centre of Distance Education, Anna University).

Through this dynamism, Anna University Distance Education aims to develop and spread professional education to each & every corner of the state that will forward economic and social development in line with the mission of the university. Programs of the Distance Education Anna University are designed with a broader vision to enhance the ability of the students to operate in an increasingly diverse environment. The Distance Education Anna University was established to offer comprehensive state-of-the-art, programs for professionals through a digital learning platform and enable learning at any time and from anywhere. With the primary initiative, CDE Anna University developed a Management program to expedite the leadership skills of students, to transform them into new-generation managers who will receive competencies to sustain the increasingly evaporative challenges of the digital world.