The University of Kalyani was established in 1960 with a campus area of over 400 acres in Kalyani town. It is well connected by road and railway, with a railway station very close to the University . The University is situated in a locality surrounded by a rural setting within a rural backdrop and it caters mostly to the students of rural and backward areas. Yet, its distance from Kolkata is only 50 km.This locational advantage of the University makes it particularly suitable for the 'Cafeteria Approach' to higher education. The University ensures on the one hand, the development of excellence, and on the other, contribution of higher education through dispersion of knowledge to rural areas in an open and flexible system. The University is also considering the possibility of upgrading some of its affiliated colleges with academic autonomy and postgraduate teaching. The University has completed four decades of commendable service to the development of higher education keeping in view the importance of the outlying rural economy and the needs and aspirations of the youth in the region. The University is presently offering twenty three post graduate programmes under four faculties, namely, Science, Arts & Commerce, Education, Engineering Technology & Management.
Two more faculties of Law and Music & Fine Arts, also have been approved recently under the University Act and are in the process of crystallization. The total number of approved teaching posts at present is 217, catering to around 2000 post-graduate students. In its administrative set up, there are approximately 32 officers, and 517 staff on the pay-roll at the moment, which vindicates a streamlined academic administration as per the usual norms of teacher-student ratio arid teacher-staff ratio.
The University is providing academic guidance and leadership to 36 (thirty six) affiliated degree colleges located in the districts of Nadia, Murshidabad and parts of N. 24 Parganas.In addition engineering colleges were affiliated to this University for the last three years. Recently these colleges have been transferred to the newly set up West Bengal University of Technology. However, the current students of the colleges in the final two years are registered as students of Kalyani University and this University is responsible for running their academic programme. The standards of teaching in the affiliated colleges are monitored by a Council for Undergraduate Studies, Planning Board, and a nominated College Deve1opment Council (CDC) through a process of academic audit. After affiliating these colleges, the University has discontinued the undergraduate programmes of the university departments from 2000-2001. The University is now primarily focusing on strengthening postgraduate education and research and evolving as a centre of excellence in a rural backdrop.