Presidency College is a place for academic excellence and the college has witnessed the intellectual evolution of Bengal and India. The college was affiliated under University of Calcutta. It is one of the oldest colleges in India. In 2010, the year the college was upgraded to university status, it was ranked 3rd in India. This college is a leading institute for the under graduation and post graduation studies as well as the research courses. It has been constantly rated within the top Ten Indian Colleges. Presidency College was ranked the number one liberal arts college in India by the weekly news magazine India Today in 2002.The College is located at the heart of the city at 86/1 College Street, Kolkata-700073.
History of Presidency College
Presidency College was founded as Hindu College in 1817 and had immense effect on the social and cultural history of the country. The College was renamed as Presidency College and brought under the direct control of the Government in 1855. The College was initially meant for the boys of Hindu elite class but later it was opened to all communities after 1855. The History of the college marks the history of Bengal and was closely intertwined with the Bengal Renaissance.
Courses offered by Presidency College
The undergraduate courses offered by Presidency College is Bengali, English, Hindi, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology,
Sanskrit, Botany, Chemistry, Economics, Geography, Geology, Mathematics, Physics, Physiology, Statistics and Zoology. The students have the opportunity to enrol themselves as honours course students only. They take honours subjects, two subsidiary subjects, environmental studies, English language and Modern Indian Language i.e. alternative English, Bengali or Hindi. Apart from this, there are detailed course-structures for the postgraduate and research scholars.
An entrance test is taken for the admission in the undergraduate courses along with the evaluation of the marks of 10+2 examination. The admission is completely on the merit basis and the performance on the entrance exam. A first merit list is published with the number of candidates equal to the number of seats in each respective subject. Second merit list includes rest of the qualified candidates. If any candidate from the first merit list does not take the admission, then only candidates from the second merit list would be considered for admission according to their position in the merit list. For the postgraduate admission, it takes place according to the merit list.
Facilities of Presidency College
There are number of scholarships, cash and book prizes, stipend etc for the meritorious students. The games, sports and physical education facilities are also good in this college. A full sized football cum cricket ground is available for the games within the premises. There is also a gym with the arrangements of multi gym instruments and floor exercises. There is an open area basketball ground attached to the football ground. There are separate common rooms (for boys and girls) with arrangement of indoor games like carom, chess, table tennis etc.
There is a rowing facility at free of cost at the Calcutta University Rowing Club. Swimming facility is also there in the adjoining College Square Swimming Pool by a special agreement with the college. The college has two halls of residence, one each for boys and girls. Presidency has an annual festival organised by the students union called the `Milieu`.
Alumni of Presidency College
Many stalwart persons are included in the alumni of Presidency College. The Alumni Association functions through several committees such as Reunion Subcommittee, the Seminar Committee, the Publication Committee, the Press and Media Committee, the Information Technology Committee, the Past Present Coordination Committee etc.
Some notable persons of this college are Satyajit Ray, Amartya Sen, Romesh Chunder Dutt, Rajendra Prasad, and Sir Gooroodas Banerjee etc.
Presidency College has been given the status of A+ by NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council).
