The University of Kalyani was established in 1960 with a campus area of over 378 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 45 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.