The National Council of Education, Bengal, was established in 1906 in the wake of the nationalist movement. It was led by intellectuals, statesmen and the middle-class intelligentsia, and its aim was to cultivate the best of global learning and technology in order to build a self-reliant industrial base for India. Bengal Technical Institute was among the educational institutions founded by NCE, Bengal. Its mission was to impart training to Indian students in the appropriate technology so that the country could produce indigenous consumable materials. This Institute, later renamed College of Engineering and Technology, was in turn converted to Jadavpur University in 1955. The founders believed that the Technology Faculty could not sustain itself without active Faculties of the Basic Sciences and the Humanities. While playing a vital role in technical education in the country, the University may be said to rest on three pillars-Technology, Science and Arts.

Jadavpur University is at present an internationally recognised premier university of the country. It is an urban university with a global perspective and is dedicated to creating leaders who will fashion a more humane and just world. Following in the footsteps of its predecessor, the University not only engages itself in teaching and research of international quality, but also provides societal services for the benefit of rural and urban populations. The programmes are directed towards achieving excellence in education and extending the benefits of improved technology to the society as a whole.

The faculty members are encouraged to add value to the courses so that students can secure employment or attempt entrepreneurship. Extension programmes and several other courses provide opportunities for the drop-outs at different levels to continue their education. The objective is that they should be able to earn a living and derive the impersonal pleasure of learning at the same time. The University also contributes in evolving modes of digital distance education as part of the National Mission on Education.

• The highest standards of excellence in teaching, research, creative expression and service to the community;
• Advanced learning as a humanising social practice rather than as a competitive exercise;
• Regarding the production and dissemination of knowledge as inseparable goals;
• Upholding the principle that the culture of reason and learning is indivisible from a concern for the world beyond the campus;
• Maintaining principles of democratic governance and intellectual and institutional freedom;
• Abiding by principles that do not discriminate on the basis of religion, race, caste, gender and economic status.