Located in the lush green lap of the hill range in Silchar, Assam University came into being under the Assam (Central) University Act of 1989. The University was set up on 21 January 1994 and since then has become an excellent center of learning. Spread over an area of 600 acres, the University campus is situated in Dargakona, which is at a distance of 20 kilometers from Silchar. Surrounded by hills and mountains, the campus provides the perfect ambience for pursuing academics.

The University provides a multidisciplinary approach to higher education. It has eight schools on major disciplines and a total of twenty-four departments. They are Social Science, Humanities, Languages, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Information Sciences and Management Studies. . Being a teaching and an affiliating University the territorial jurisdiction of the district extends to five districts of Assam. They are Cachar, Hailakandi, Karimganj, North Cachar Hills and Karbi Anglong. Fifty-one undergraduate colleges are affiliated to the University. The University has three interdisciplinary centers of study, the Computer Centre, Centre for Women`s Studies and the Netaji Centre.

The objective of the University is to disseminate knowledge for the development of manpower. In a very short span of time, the University has created a mark in the academic map of India.