On the advice of The Wood's Despatch, universities were created in the Presidency town in India in 1857. In the presidency of Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras, three universities were established as a result of Wood's Despatch plan.
Presidency Institution, Kolkata (formerly Hindu College and Presidency College) is a public state university in Kolkata's College Street. It is said to be India's oldest non-religious organization, having been established in 1817. After 193 years as a prominent associate college of the University of Calcutta, the university was promoted to university status in 2010. In 2017, the University celebrated its bicentennial.
The NAAC gave Presidency an A in its first cycle as a university, with a score of 3.04/4.00. The UGC has designated the presidency as an 'Institute of National Eminence.' In 2016, it was listed among the top 50 universities in the NIRF rankings for the first time. However, institutions like Presidency University, which exclusively studied science and literature but not architecture, business, agriculture, or other subjects, were omitted from the NIRF rankings in 2017 and 2018.