Today, the story that we at The Knowledge Review are going to present dates back to the British rule. The year was 1857 when the University of Calcutta was established and modeled after the University of London. It was one of the first institutions in Asia to be set up as a multidisciplinary and Western-style University. Withstanding all those historical years, the University still remains alive to emerging political, social, and economic challenges of the nation and the world.

‘Firsts’ in the Segment

While imparting quality education throughout its historical legacy, the University has a quite of firsts in the educational sphere. These are:

• The First University located to the east of Suez to teach European Classics, English Literature, European and Indian Philosophy, and Occidental and Oriental History
• The First Medical School of Asia, the Calcutta Medical College, was set up in 1835 and was affiliated to the University
• The First College for Women in India, the Bethune College, was set up in 1879 as a college affiliated to the University
• The First University Museum in India, the Asutosh Museum of the University, was established in 1937
• The nation’s First Homoeopathy College was established in 1880 and was affiliated to the University.
• The First Blind School in India came into being in 1925, affiliated to the University
• The Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management was set up in 1953 as the country’s First Management Institute.

A Right Place to Study

The University imparts robust education through a total of 66 departments and 37 self-financing programs in 14 campuses spread across the city of Kolkata and its suburbs. It is a public-funded affiliating university and has more than 0.3 million undergraduates registered in about 149 affiliated colleges. UOC has excellent research programs in all its faculties involving state-of-the-art facilities and well-qualified research staff. Further, it has the diversity of academic programs available at affordable rates.

Taking numbers ahead, it has 14000 postgraduate students in diverse academic programs offered in Social Science, Literature, Commerce, Business Management, Science, Agriculture, and Technology, in different academic campuses. Courses offered both at Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels are in different streams including – Science, Humanities & Social Sciences, Commerce & Business Management, Education, Journalism & Library Science, Engineering & Technology, Fine Arts and Law.

Not making jack a dull boy, the University makes sure that each student takes part in co-curricular and athletic activities such as sports, debating, performances, art, etc. Under cultural activities, students organize diversified live events at different university campuses, both in and out of the campus.

Built for Students

UOC is committed to making educational opportunities accessible to all. It is all in for every student’s education and thus, provides financial aid to 80% of its students from the government.

With robust curricular and never-ending extra-curricular activities, students further obtain opportunities to work as interns in premier industries and organizations. Such type of exposure prepares them for jobs in the leading industries.

The University achieves such by inviting stalwarts from industries through departmental activities as well as through the Training and Placement Cell. Short-term visits are also a part of the curricular in many of the departments, making sure students get acquainted with professional industries. Further, industry experts are invited to special seminars and workshops. The Training and Placement Cell also offer, employment-oriented short-term certificate and diploma courses to the students

Bright Career Ahead

The majority of the graduates get in the active support of Training and Placement Cell to achieve their targeted job. A sizable number of students also opt for higher studies in other National and International Institutes/Universities of repute. Students also explore entrepreneurship opportunities organized through diverse entrepreneurship training programs being set up by the University and government.

Medals of Honor

With its past glory, academic excellence, and recognitions, the University has become a center of attraction for the bright students of the state and the country. The University has been bestowed with:

• First position among state universities- QS India University Rankings, 2020
• Ranked Fifth among the Universities of India- Indian University Ranking 2019 by NIRF, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.
• Declared a ‘Centre with Potential for Excellence in Particular Area’ and a ‘University with Potential for Excellence’ by UGC
• The highest number of students clearing Doctoral entrance eligibility exam in Natural Science & Arts conducted by Government of India’s National Eligibility Test
• A member of the United Nations Academic Impact
• Ranked the fifth position among Top Ten General Governmental Universities by India Today Rankings 2019

History for Tomorrow

In its pursuit of excellence, UOC is committed to focusing on interdisciplinary, inclusive teaching and learning mechanism. The emphasis is also on career-oriented curricula and training for the students. For this, the University is in collaboration with the leading industries research, top International Universities, and Research Institutes for joint academic programs and research activities.

Visit www.caluniv.ac.in to know more.