List of Top UGC Approved Central Universities in North India: Offered Courses

Founded in early 1969, Jawaharlal Nehru University’s campus is spread across 1,000 acres of land in New Delhi. With an aim to offer admission to students from every nook and corner of India, the university conducts the JNU entrance exam simultaneously at 37 test centres across India every year.

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi Ranking:

• NIRF Rankings 2025: 2 under the 'University' category
• 14 by the QS Asian University Rankings - Southern Asia category

Some of the major schools and centres at JNU include:

School of Arts & Aesthetics	School of Life Sciences
School of Biotechnology	School of Physical Sciences
School of Computational & Integrative Sciences	School of Social Sciences
School of Computer & Systems Sciences	Centre for the Study of Law & Governance
School of Environmental Sciences	Special Centre for Molecular Medicine
School of International Studies	Special Centre for Nanoscience
School of Language, Literature & Culture Studies	Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies

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5. Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Delhi

The Indira Gandhi National Open University is the national resource centre for open and distance learning. Established under an Act of Parliament in 1985, the university has under its ambit 21 schools and a network of 67 regional centres, about 2,667 learner support centres, and 29 overseas partner institutions.

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Delhi Ranking:

• NIRF 2025 Rankings: #1 in India in the Open University Category

The university offers a total of 228 degree, diploma, doctoral, and certificate programmes to students in various disciplines. Given below is the list of 21 schools at IGNOU:

School of Agriculture (SOA)	School of Management Studies (SOMS)
School of Education (SOE)	School of Social Sciences (SOSS)
School of Foreign Languages (SOFL)	School of Translation Studies and Training (SOTST)
School of Humanities (SOH)	School of Continuing Education (SOCE)
School of Law (SOL)	School of Extension and Development Studies (SOEDS)
School of Sciences (SOS)	School of Health Sciences (SOHS)
School of Tourism and Hospitality Service Management (SOTHSM)	School of Journalism and New Media Studies (SOJNMS)
School of Computer and Information Sciences (SOCIS)	School of Performing and Visual Arts (SOPVA)
School of Engineering & Technology (SOET)	School of Social Work (SOSW)
School of Gender and Development Studies (SOGDS)	School of Vocational Education and Training (SOVET)
School of Inter-Disciplinary and Trans-Disciplinary Studies (SOITS)	-

6. South Asian University (SAU), Delhi

South Asian University is an international university established by the governments of eight countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) in 2010. These countries include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

The university offers postgraduate and doctoral programmes to students in different disciplines. The degrees and certificates granted by SAU are recognised by both UGC as well as SAARC countries. Currently, SAU has four departments offering different courses to students:

Department of Computer Science	Department of International Relations
Department of Sociology	Department of Mathematics

The two other Central Universities located in Delhi are the Central Sanskrit University, New Delhi and Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri National Sanskrit University.

7. Central University of Haryana, Haryana

Central University of Haryana is one of the 15 central universities in India established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) under the XI Five-Year Plan (2007-12).

The university campus is spread across 488 acres of land in the Mahendergarh district of Haryana. The university’s schools offering different courses to students are as mentioned in the table below:

School of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences	School of Earth, Environment & Space Studies
School of Language, Linguistics, Culture & Heritage	School of Journalism, Mass Communication & Media
School of Chemical Sciences	School of Interdisciplinary & Applied Life Sciences
School of Computer Science & Informatics	School of Law, Governance, Public Policy & Management
School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences	-

8. Central University of Himachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh

The Central University of Himachal Pradesh was established under the Central Universities Act 2009. The university was established with the vision of being recognised as a ‘Research University’ with greater emphasis on the creation of knowledge vis-à-vis the revival of Indian Traditional Knowledge and Practices. 

Currently, the university has 11 schools (mentioned in the table below) offering PG courses to students in disciplines such as Science, Mathematics, and Management.

Business & Management Studies	Life Sciences
Earth & Environmental Sciences	Mathematics, Computers & Information Sciences
Education	Physical & Material Sciences
Fine Arts & Art Education	Social Sciences
Humanities & Languages	Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Management
Journalism, Mass Communication & New Media	-

It may be noted that in the coming few years the university is contemplating to have 17 schools with about 90 departments and 50 centres of studies.

9. Central University of Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir

Central University of Jammu came into existence in 2011 and offers PG and integrated PhD programmes to students. The university has a total of 13 approved schools and 81 approved departments under its ambit. However, currently only eight schools are functioning in the university.

Given below is the list of 13 approved schools at Central University of Jammu with their operational status:

School	Status
School of Business Studies	Operational
School of Knowledge Management, Information and Media Studies	Operational
School of Basic and Applied Sciences	Operational
School of Education	Operational
School of Humanities and Social Sciences	Operational
School of Languages	Operational
School of Law	Non-Operational
School of Visual and Performing Arts	Non-Operational
School of Medical and Allied Sciences	Non-Operational
School of Engineering Sciences and Technology	Non-Operational
School of Life Sciences	Operational
School of National Security Studies	Operational
School of Vocational Studies	Non-Operational

10. Central University of Kashmir (CUK), Jammu & Kashmir

Formerly known as Central University of Jammu and Kashmir, Central University of Kashmir was established in 2009. University has a total of nine schools offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses to students in various disciplines. 

School of Engineering & Technology	School of Physical & Chemical Sciences
School of Education	School of Business Studies
School of Languages	School of Legal Studies
School of Social Sciences	School of Media Studies
School of Life Sciences	-

11. Central University of Punjab (CUPB), Punjab

Central University of Punjab came into existence in 2009 along with 12 other central universities in India. University offers PG, MPhil, and PhD courses to students in disciplines including Science, Technology, Humanities, Law, and Social Science.

Currently, CUPB has 19 centres spread over nine schools. The schools include:

School of Basic and Applied Sciences	School of Legal Studies and Governance
School of Health Sciences	School of Environment and Earth Sciences
School of Education	School of Social Sciences
School of Languages, Literature and Culture	School of Global Relations
School of Engineering & Technology	-

12. Central University of Rajasthan, Rajasthan

Central University of Rajasthan was set up in 2009 and is located at Bandra Sindri near Kishangarh on Jaipur–Ajmer Road (NH-8). The university offers courses such as Architecture, Chemical Science, Environmental Science, Biotechnology, Mathematics, and Physics under the following schools:

School of Architecture	School of Life Sciences
School of Chemical Sciences and Pharmacy	School of Humanities & Languages
School of Commerce & Management	School of Mathematics, Statistics & Computational Sciences
School of Engineering and Technology	School of Social Science
School of Earth Sciences	School of Physical Sciences

13. Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Uttar Pradesh

Founded in 1920, Aligarh Muslim University is one of the oldest central universities in India. Its campus is spread over 467.6 hectares of land in the city of Aligarh and offers over 300 courses in traditional and modern streams of education.

The university has about 12 faculties consisting of 98 teaching departments, 15 centres and institutions, and three academies. Some of the departments at AMU include:

Applied Chemistry	Law
Applied Mathematics	Linguistics
Applied Physics	Mass Communication
Architecture	Mathematics
Biochemistry (Life Sciences)	Mechanical Engineering
Biochemistry (JNMC)	Medicine
Cardiothoracic Surgery	Microbiology
Chemical Engineering	Modern Indian Languages
Civil Engineering	Petroleum Studies
Computer Engineering	Physics
Computer Science	Sanskrit
Economics	South African and Brazilian Studies
Education	South Asia and Indian Ocean Region Studies
Electrical Engineering	Statistics & Operations Research
English	Surgery
Geography	Urdu
Hindi	West Asian Studies and North African Studies
History	Wildlife Sciences
Islamic Studies	Zoology

14. Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU), Uttar Pradesh

Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University was established in 1996. Named after Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, the university campus is situated on 250 acres of land on the Raebareli road, Lucknow. The BBAU schools offering different courses to students are as mentioned in the table below:

School for Ambedkar Studies	School for Legal Studies
School for Bio-Science Bio-Technology	School for Management Studies
School for Environmental Science	School for Physical Sciences
School for Education	Department of Hindi
School for Home Sciences	University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET)
School for Info. Science Technology	Centre for Industry Institution Partnership Programme (CIIPP)

15. Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Uttar Pradesh

Banaras Hindu University was founded in 1916 by the nationalist leader Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, along with the cooperation of personalities such as Dr. Annie Besant. The university is located in the city of Varanasi, and its campus is spread across 1,300 acres of land.

The university has a total of three institutes, 140 departments, 14 faculties, and four inter-disciplinary centres offering various UG, PG, and PhD courses to students in the fields of Science, Technology, Medicine, Humanities, Social Science, Fine Arts, and Performing Arts.

Science	Management Studies
Medical Sciences	Environmental & Sustainable Development
Agricultural Sciences	Indian Institute of Technology

Some major faculties at BHU include:

Arts	Performing Arts
Commerce	Social Sciences
Education	Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Vijnam
Law	Visual Arts

16. University of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh

University of Allahabad was established in 1887. Currently, the university comprises four faculties, 31 departments, 12 institutes, and eight constituent institutes. The 12 institutes of the university are mentioned below:

Institutes of Interdisciplinary Studies	Centre of Globalization and Development Studies
Centre of Bio-Technology	M N Saha Centre of Space Studies
Centre of Bio-Informatics	K Banerjee Centre of Atmospheric & Ocean Sciences
Centre for Film & Theatre	Centre of Materials Science
Centre for Gandhian Thoughts	Centre of Environmental Sciences
Centre for Women’s Studies	Nano Technology Application Centre

17. Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Uttarakhand

Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University initially came into existence as a state university in 1973. However, the university was upgraded to the status of a central university under the Central Universities Act 2009.

The university has a total of three campuses located in regions like Srinagar, Pauri, and Tehri. All three university campuses offer UG, PG, and PhD programmes to students in different disciplines. Schools of studies at Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University are mentioned in the table below:

School of Agriculture & Allied Sciences	School of Arts, Communication & Languages
School of Sciences	School of Humanities & Social Sciences
School of Commerce	School of Law
School of Earth Science	School of Life Sciences
School of Education	School of Management
School of Engineering & Technology	-

18. Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University, Uttar Pradesh

RGNAU or Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University is an autonomous central university located at Fursatganj Airfield in Uttar Pradesh, India. The university is popular for aviation studies and research. The university is constituted by an Act of Parliament in 2013 and is under the administration of the Ministry of Civil Aviation of the Government of India. Meanwhile, the university was physically established in 2018. 

Post Graduate Diploma in Airport Operations

19. Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University, Uttar Pradesh

One of the well-known central universities, Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University, is in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. It was set up by the government of India under the Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University Act, 2014. The first academic session started in July 2014.

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