Abstract
Access to higher education has been relatively addressed well globally, while student success rate remains a serious concern, given several issues around quality. This study therefore aims to explore the role of epistemic access for effective teaching and learning in higher education and it is keen to account student’s experiences and views on regular and distance programmes. A questionnaire using google form was instrumented to gather both quantitative and qualitative data among students and graduates in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. Statistical analysis was used for quantitative data, while thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. The results confirm the theoretical claim that the pursuit of authentic knowledge is adequate when epistemic access is ensured. The study recommends that higher educational institutions offering both modes must fulfil their epistemic duties by ensuring epistemic access to students. In general, the participants in the study agreed that the regular university programmes are more conducive for epistemic access, while distance education has other advantages such as flexibility and affordability. The study contents that both modes have merits and demerits. It is, therefore, necessary that both are available at good qualities for students to benefit from them