DISTED College is a private college within George Town, the capital city of the Malaysian state of Penang. It was established in 1987 as the first Penang-based private tertiary institution. The college provides various pre-university, diploma and degree courses, some of which are twinned with foreign universities. DISTED consists of two campuses - its main campus is situated at Macalister Road, while the college's School of Hospitality Management is located at China Street Ghaut within the city centre's UNESCO World Heritage Site. The college is wholly owned by Wawasan Open University.
History
DISTED College was the brainchild of three educationists - Gajaraj Dhanarajan, Hulman Sinaga and Sharom Ahmat - who in 1985 formed DISTED Services Sdn Bhd, a private limited company. The name DISTED is the acronym for Distance Education, which suited the original intention of the trio - to provide adults an alternate route to tertiary education; it was felt that, compared to high school leavers, adults had more limited prospects of obtaining higher education. However, due to the high costs of tertiary courses abroad, the trio soon had to alter their direction to cater to the youth. By 1987, contracts were signed with the British Columbia Open University, TAFE South Australia, Murdoch University and the Warrnambool Institute of Advanced Education to provide off-campus courses to Penangites. Within the same year, DISTED College was registered with Malaysia's Ministry of Higher Education. DISTED took in its first cohort of students in 1988. At the time, it was housed inside a bungalow at Hargreaves Road in George Town. The lack of space forced the college to relocate to RECSAM within the suburb of Gelugor, and then to the St. Joseph's Novitiate at Kelawei Road. In 1995, DISTED College finally moved into its current premises at Macalister Road, occupying a mansion formerly owned by a prominent 19th century tycoon, Yeap Chor Ee. The campus was expanded in 1997. The college's School of Hospitality Management commenced operations at its second campus at China Street Ghaut in 2012. Within the same year, DISTED College's shares were entirely acquired by Wawasan Open University.
Students who have graduated with a diploma from DISTED College will have the option of undergoing any one of the transfer programmes with foreign universities.
DISTED College was awarded a five-star rating in the Malaysian Quality Evaluation System 2014/2015, which was conducted by Malaysia's Ministry of Higher Education.
