Annamalai Institution (AU), India's first private university, has recently been designated as a 'State Government University.' The NAAC awarded it an 'A' grade in 2014, and it is recognised by the UGC. It is also a member of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and was ranked in the University category by NIRF in 2020, in the range of 101-150. Annamalai University currently has 48 affiliated institutes and offers UG, PG, PG diploma, diploma, certificate, and PhD programmes through its 10 faculties, which include Arts, Science, Indian Languages, Education, Agriculture, and Medicine.

Annamalai University has received 15 patents from various institutions, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and has signed 40 Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with research partners like FAO, IRRI, and USDA. Bayer, CavinKare, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Dow AgroSciences, Huawei, and other international organisations and industrial players collaborate on research projects at the university. The Department of Science and Technology has given it the PURSE (Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence) programme (DST).

In the early 1920s, to serve the downtrodden and to promote Tamil Literature, Rajah Sir S. R. M. Annamalai Chettiar founded Sri Minakshi College, Sri Minakshi Tamil College and Sri Minakshi Sanskrit College in a rural setup at Chidambaram. In 1928, Rajah Sir S. R. M. Annamalai Chettiar agreed with the local Government to hand over the above-said institution for establishing a University. Thus, on 01.01.1929 Annamalai University was established as per the Annamalai University Act 1928 (Tamil Nadu Act 1 of 1929).