一般如果不大写,泛指在线大学、远程教育大学.

　　不过真有一所英国大学的名字叫OpenUniversity,官方叫公开大学,或译英国公开大学或英国开放大学）是英国的遥距教育大学,1969年建立.中央办公厅是在英国东南部Buckinghamshire,MiltonKeynes的WaltonHall,另外在英国其他地方设立了有13座办公室.大部分的学生是住在英国的,但也有来自欧洲,非洲和远东的学生.

　　英文介绍：

　　TheOpenUniversity(commonlyOpenUniversityorOU,butofficiallytheispartofitsname)istheUK'sdistancelearninggovernment-supporteduniversitynotableforhavinganopenentrypolicy,i.e.students'previousacademicachievementsarenottakenintoaccountforentrytomostundergraduatecourses.Itwasestablishedin1969andthefirststudentsenrolledinJanuary1971.ThemajorityofstudentsarebasedintheUK,butitscoursescanbestudiedanywhereintheworld.TheadministrationisbasedatWaltonHall,MiltonKeynesinBuckinghamshire,buthasregionalcentresineachofitsthirteenregionsaroundtheUK.ItalsohasofficesinotherEuropeancountries.Theuniversityawardsundergraduateandpostgraduatedegrees,aswellasnon-degreequalificationssuchasdiplomasandcertificates,orcontinuingeducationunits.

　　Withmorethan180,000studentsenrolled,includingmorethan25,000studentsstudyingoverseas,itisthelargestacademicinstitutionintheUKbystudentnumber,andqualifiesasoneoftheworld'slargestuniversities.Sinceitwasfounded,morethan3millionstudentshavestudieditscourses.ItwasratedtopUniversityinEnglandandWalesforstudentsatisfactioninthe2005and2006UKgovernmentnationalstudentsatisfactionsurvey,andsecondinthe2007survey.