India is an over populated country and it is the second populous country in the world. Everyone does not get the chance of higher education through formal education system. So the present paper attempted to examine the emergence and potentiality of MOOCs in higher education with special reference to few colleges in Purba Bardhaman distrct in West Bengal, India. This study is primarily analytical in nature. A structured questionnaire has been used to collect primary data encompassing 100 teachers and 200 students in few colleges of Purba Bardhaman district in West Bengal. Chi-square test was used to examine the association between MOOCs and access in alternative form of higher education among the students. Moreover, student‟s t-test was used to examine the significant differences in opinion among the respondents towards the potentiality of MOOCs in higher education with respect to economic status (APL/BPL), locality (rural/urban), gender (male/female) and social groups (reserved/unreserved). There existed a significant association between MOOCs and scope of new path of alternative form of higher education among the students. Significant attitudinal differences occurred among the students belonging in different economic status, locality, gender and social groups towards the potentiality of MOOCs in access of higher education in India. MOOCs have the potentiality of maintaining the access of alternative form of higher education and more interactive online degrees by integrating modern technology in near future.
