Goa University was established under the Goa University Act of 1984 (Act No. 7 of 1984) and commenced operations on 1 June 1985. The university provides higher education in the Indian state of Goa. It is located on Taleigao Plateau overlooking Zuari estuary on a picturesque campus spread over 402 acres with state-of-the-art infrastructure such as faculty blocks, administrative building, library, sports facilities, student hostels, bank, post-office, staff quarters, etc. Campus-Wide Internet connectivity with strong bandwidth is available for all 24 hours a day.

The University took over the enhanced role of Centre of Post-Graduate Instruction and Research (CPIR) which was set after the liberation of Goa by India in December 1961, by the University of Bombay (now Mumbai), in June 1962. Since 1985 Goa University offers graduate and post-graduate studies and research programmes. It is currently (2014-19) accredited to the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in India with A Grade. The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) (an organ of Ministry of Human Resources and Development, Govt. of India) has currently (2020) ranked the University at 81 and has always been in first 100 since 2016 among the Indian Universities. QS University rankings – a World University rankings agency – has ranked Goa University in the range of 56-60 among Indian Universities for the year 2019. Among the QS World University Rankings for ‘BRICS countries 2019’, Goa University is among the group of 241-250 universities. There are about 9000 universities in BRICS countries.

Over the past 35 years, the University has steadily expanded its reach, both in terms of the number of affiliated colleges – professional and general education numbering to 61, as well as the diversity of courses offered. These colleges offer various courses leading to a degree at graduate, post-graduate level. 12 of them are also recognized as research centers to offer Ph.D. programmes. The University, on its campus, has 1 Centre, 16 Departments and 5 schools (Table 1). The formation of schools has been done at the start of the academic year 2019-20 with amalgamation of traditional departments to allow organic evolution of new courses. They offer programmes leading to Undergraduate degree (3), Master’s degree (35), M.Phil.(20) and Ph.D. degree (25) in various disciplines. In addition, 9 recognized institutions in various disciplines situated in the state of Goa are also recognized for research programmes leading to Ph.D. degree by the University.