The Open University U.K, founded in 1969 as the first university bearing this name, can be called the mother of all open universities, with now more than 80 independent open universities around the world. To be sure they do not all follow the same organizational structure, although many do. But the core institutional model of large-scale distance and online teaching with unusually flexible and open entry requirements and systems of student support, to allow a wider than usual range of students to participate, is a common feature.