Bishop Heber College is a religious minority educational institution established by the Tiruchirappalli - Thanjavur Diocese of the Church of South India. Its main objective is to cater for the higher educational needs of the members of the Church of South India and other Christians and specially to provide for them an educational atmosphere in keeping with the Christian ideals of the Church. The College, however, admits students of all faiths and religions and seeks to provide for them the best possible higher education

Bishop Heber College traces its origin back to Christian Frederick Schwartz, the first German missionary, supported by the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge (S.P.C.K) in South India. He built a school near the Rock Fort in Tiruchirappalli in 1762. The School was vested in the S.P.C.K, and subsequently handed over to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel(S.P.G) in 1825. Reginald Heber, the Lord Bishop of Calcutta, came to Tiruchirappalli in 1826 on his way to Sri Lanka. He visited the school on the morning of the 3rd of April and expressed the wish that better buildings might be provided. He also spoke to the Tamil Congregation and later in the morning died of apoplexy in the cold water bath in the District Court Compound here. He was buried in St. John's Church, Trichy. The School was renamed Heber Memorial School.

The Lindsay Commission on Christian Higher Education in India recommended the merger of the Bishop Heber College with the Madras Christian College. Accordingly, Bishop Heber College was closed in 1934 and the Bishop Heber Hall emerged at Madras Christian College, Tambaram.

The people of Tiruchirappalli, however, were not happy about the closure of the College. Right from the year 1946, efforts were made to revive Bishop Heber College but in vain. The Most Rev. Dr. Solomon Doraisawmy, who was consecrated Bishop of Tiruchirappalli - Thanjavur Diocese in 1964, plunged heart and soul into the effort to revive the College. He succeeded in reviving the College on 24th June 1966.

The College functioned at Teppakulam in the old College Buildings from 1966 to 1968, having only Pre-University classes. In July 1968 the College was upgraded to the Degree Standard with three Degree Courses Viz. History, Economics and Mathematics and the Degree Classes were conducted at Puthur, where the College had acquired a site for its permanent buildings.

Academic Programmes

The College now offers thirteen Under-Graduate, eighteen Post-Graduate and four Post-Graduate Diploma Programmes and three Diploma Programmes of study besides research programmes leading to M. Phil and Ph. D degrees. The College started offering programmes in the Self-Financing stream from the year 1985.

The College has already established a great reputation for its high academic standards and attracts students from all over India and abroad.

The College runs the accredited Study Centre of the Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi.

International Collaborations

The college with the spirit of a goodwill ambassador, has cut across boundaries to propagate its educational mission. In keeping with the present educational trend, the college has signed a number of MoU's with various universities, colleges, institutions and other agencies of international repute. This fruitful endeavor helps in arguing an interface between institutions in order to promote exchange of knowledge. Liverpool Hope University, UK, Kingston University, UK, University of Burgundy, France, Kasetsart University, Thailand, Appalachian State University, USA, Groupe ESC, Rouen, France, Churches Council for Child and Youth Care, Bangalore, e-LIPI of STPI, Government of India, IBM, Bangalore, are among the institutions in academic understanding.

The University Grants Commission, New Delhi and Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli granted Autonomy to our College during 2004-2005.

National recognition

The College was accredited with 5 stars by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) on 21st May 2001 and was reaccredited at the A+ Level on 31st March 2007. Also our College was recognized by the UGC as "College with Potential for Excellence" on September 2011. In the 3rd cycle of reaccreditation, the NAAC awarded the college with ‘A’ grade (CGPA: 3.58/4.0) and the college, as a whole, was granted with the prestigious FIST grant (of Rs. 1 crore) by the Department of Science & Technology, New Delhi. Further, in the same year, it was identified by the Department of Biotechnology for the ‘Star College Scheme’ for a special grant of Rs. 55 lakhs.

Surpassing all these, in the same year, the college was recognized as the “College of Excellence”, with a special grant of Rs. 2 crore.

It is very wonderful and remarkable that the college was celebrating its Golden Jubilee in 2016 while receiving all these prestigious awards.

With the slogan of Golden Jubilee, ‘Excel and empower’, the college continues to excel in different dimensions and empower the young men and women especially those from the weaker sections of the society.