Many distance education institutions arrange for their students to meet occasionally in face-to-face sessions in a study center, for both instruction and counseling. In a dual-mode institution a study center may be one or more rooms in a branch campus, while a single-mode instituti on is likely to rent facilities from a conventional institution. A national retail firm or bank with a corporate training department may make dedicated space for a study center available at each of its branches. A study center may contain computers, software, texts, study guides, a library, and hardware for receiving or recording broadcast programs. Most important, the study center is a place where students may meet formally, for counseling and tutorials, or informally, for peer support in self-help groups.

• UNESCO, What Is a Study Centre? The Range of Possible Functions

• UNESCO, What Is a Study Centre? Examples of study centre types
  

• Study centers for the University of the Philippines Open University

• Study centers for Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University in Thailand