Barrackpore Rastraguru Surendranath College started its humble beginning in 1953. Until 1954, it was located at the premises at 6, Riverside Road, which was obtained by the College authority on rent. As the need of having own premises was realized by the college authority, they bought a piece of land on 85, Middle Road, which now houses the arts and the science faculties. Initially Pre-University and Science classes were held in this building. In the year 1979, the government of West Bengal sanctioned the plan of the new building and agreed to bear the entire cost. The construction of new building started in the eighties and after that the College took its new identity with a steady growth in academics and all sphere.
The Premises of 6, Riverside Road, owned by a Missionary Trust was donated to the College in 1984 and `No Objection` certificate was obtained from the Defense Ministry in the year 1997. The building now houses the Commerce department while the administration, the Arts and Science departments are situated on 85, Middle Road.
Over the years the College has earned its reputation as one of the premier institution in Barrackpore, which imparts in diverse areas of Humanities, Commerce, Basic and Applied Sciences. Honours courses are available in fifteen different disciplines. Apart from the traditional courses, Microbiology, Computer Science and Electronics are offered now a days as the honors courses. A modern subject like Journalism has been introduced at the general level. The College offers Counseling facilities to Students and the tutorial classes are incorporated in the routine along with the regular classes. Academic calendars are distributed among the students before the commencement of the academic classes so that they can get an idea about the break up of the course study and lectures in each subject. Health service is also provided at the health centers, which are attended, by the General Physicians and Specialists. Beside this, the College is the universal member of Student`s Health Home. A student canteen is also there to supply food at reasonable prices. A grievance Redressal Cell has been constituted for the students and the staff.
The College is advanced in technologies too. Most of the routine office work is computerized. Besides the college runs three Computer Laboratories where students can get the training to pursue a successful career in Information Technology. Internet facilities are also available in the introductory phases. This allow the students to enrich their knowledge from the huge database stored in the internet and thus the college also becomes the integral part of the knowledge-based global village.
The College offers a number of courses. For B.Sc it offers Mathematics, Physics, Microbiology, Electronics, Chemistry, computer Science, Statistics, Geography, Economics, Zoology etc. accountancy is taught in the B.Com stream and for B.A. it offers Bengali, English, Hindi, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Education, Journalism and Mass Communication and Film Studies. For Technical courses it offers B.B.A degree course.
The admission occurs strictly according to the merit list. No candidate is allowed to take up a subject in which he/ she could not obtain the pass marks in the said subject in previous qualifying examination. Applicants are advised to submit separate application forms for different Honors subjects and different combinations. The students who have passed H.S. or equivalent examinations are eligible to apply for the undergraduate degree course.
Barrackpore Rastraguru Surendranath College has introduced a new model of teaching which is effective for both advanced and poor students through counseling. Many outgoing students take this advantage from the academic faculties during their study leave through scheduled routine.
The college has an excellent infrastructure with a well-stocked library, health clinic for students, opportunity for field work (self-financing and compulsory for Geography honors students), a good canteen, grievance redressal cell, seminar hall, counseling facility, students` common room, NCC (National Cadet Cops), students` union, playground, coaching games, internet facility and well equipped laboratory for the science and technological services. The laboratories are very well equipped & well managed. The laboratories for Computer Sciences include software and hardware lab, Electronic science- Analog and digital Lab; Physics- general lab include dark room, semi dark room, electronic & computer wing of Physics laboratory; for Chemistry Organic, Inorganic, Physical & Analytical labs, balance room and instrument room; for Microbiology inoculation chamber, general laboratory, instrument room; for Geography there is a general laboratory and a computer wing; for Mathematics there is general mathematics laboratory with special computer wing; for Statistics there is only one general Statistics laboratory; and for Film Studies there is one special audio-visual laboratory.
There are also efforts to introduce some professional diploma courses for the professionals as well as for the freshers and small entrepreneurs in environmental control, pollution control, quality control etc in self-financing model. This is the premier institution that provides admission to overseas students recommended by the Indian Council for Cultural Resources, Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India along with the National and local students in different conventional and non-conventional subjects. College has introduced a compulsory Computer Education to the students by introducing the CCC course accreditation to DOE with the assistance of Barrackpore Rastraguru Surendranath College Computer Centre, accredited DOEACC institute of Barrackpore.
