Presidency University has a unique historical place. It was one of Asia's first institutes of Western-style higher education. The Hindoo College was founded in 1817 by a group of enlightened Indians and Englishmen. This was taken over by the British Government in 1855 as the College of the Bengal Presidency, and in 1857 it was incorporated into the newly established Calcutta University. Presidency College remained Bengal's preeminent centre of higher learning for the next century and more. Despite being a constituent college of Calcutta University, it maintained a research tradition rivalled by few universities in India. This added a new dimension to its undergraduate education.

The University has 17 departments that offer undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programmes in Arts and Science specialisations. Every year, admission to all of the University's courses is based on an entrance exam. However, for the academic year 2021-22, the entrance exams conducted by WBJEEB for admission to UG and PG courses, namely PUBDET and PUMDET, have been cancelled. All admissions for this academic year will be based on performance in the most recent qualifying exam.

Students at the University have access to a variety of international opportunities. It has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with 20 international organisations around the world for this purpose. Among them are Trinity College, Groningen University, and the Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute. Furthermore, the University has a distinguished career counselling cell to impart training and guidance related to life skills/leadership training and to keep its students up to date with industry trends.