World’s first yoga university outside of India opens in LA

Looking to study yoga? You can now find your flow in California.

The Vivekananda Yoga University (VaYU) has opened its (virtual) doors in Los Angeles. It is the first yoga university outside of India.

Named after the influential Indian Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda, VaYU offers an Online Master of Science (Yoga) degree. Students can complete the program over the course of 21 months (four semesters) and expect to commit 28-40 hours a week to studying. The final semester is dedicated to a Master’s Research Project.

Like any Masters program, applicants will need to have completed a four-year undergraduate program to be eligible.

And like a real university, a yoga degree is quite the investment – $15,950 USD.

“[The university] combines best of the East and best of the West,” said VaYU Chairman and yoga guru Dr. H R Nagendra. “Best of the East is yoga and its applications and best of West is modern scientific research.” 

The school’s faculty are recruits of SVYASA, the first yoga university in India. Applications for the fall 2020 semester are now open with the first day of classes starting on August 24th.