BISHOP HEBER COLLEGE is a religious minority educational institution established by 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 Heber Memorial School, which became a full-fledged High School in 1864. In 1873, the School was raised to a Second Grade College and in 1882, it became a First Grade College. It was then known as S.P.G. College. It was the first College to be established in Tiruchirappalli. Honours Courses in History and Mathematics were introduced in 1925. The College came to be known as Bishop Heber College in the late 1920’s and its Diamond Jubilee was celebrated in 1926 under the Presidentship of the then Governor of Madras, Lord Goschen.

The Lindsay Commission on Christian Higher Education in India recommended the merger of the Bishop Heber College with the Madras Christian College, Chennai. Accordingly, Bishop Heber College was closed in 1934 and merged with Madras Christian College, Thambaram. In memory of this, Heber Hall and Heber Chapel emerged at Madras Christian College. The Most Rev. Dr. Solomon Doraisawmy, who was the consecrated Bishop of Tiruchirappalli-Thanjavur Diocese in 1964, succeeded in reviving the College on June 24, 1966. The College functioned at Teppakulam in the Old College Buildings from 1966 to 1969, having only Pre-University classes. In July 1968, the College was upgraded to the Degree Standard with three Degree Programmes viz. History, Economics and Mathematics and the Degree Classes were conducted at Puthur, where the College had acquired a site for its permanent buildings. For four years from 1968 to 1972, the College functioned in two places, the Pre-University Classes at Teppakulam and the Degree Classes at Puthur. In the meantime, the College managed to secure financial aid from the Protestant Central Agency for Co-operation in Development, Bonn, Germany for the construction of its permanent buildings. The building scheme was taken in hand, early in 1970 and four new buildings were opened in 1972. Many more buildings have since then been added and the College now has a beautiful campus with lovely gardens. The College started offering programmes in the Self-Financing stream from the year 1985. The College runs the accredited Study Centre of the IGNOU, New Delhi. The revived College celebrated its Silver Jubilee in February 1992 and Golden Jubilee in 2016.

The College now offers ten Under-Graduate, seven Post-Graduate, and one M.Phil. Programme under Aided Stream; three B.Voc. Programmes under UGC grant and twenty eight Under-Graduate, twenty one Post-Graduate, One integrated Post Graduate programme and many Certificate, Diploma and Post-Graduate Diploma programmes of study, besides offering research programmes leading to M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in self-financed stream.

The College received “Green College Award” in 2016, from CSI Synod, Chennai. 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 MoUs with various Universities, Colleges, Institutions and other agencies of International repute like Liverpool Hope University, UK; Wolver Hampton University, UK; Appalachian State University, USA; Concordia College, New York, USA., Merrimack College, USA., Kingston University, London (UK), Davidson College, USA; Binary University, Malaysia; Brant University, France and Trinity Western University, Canada. These MoUs bear eloquent testimony to the high standard and quality of education offered in the College.

The College has a modern Library, fully computerized with a holding of about 1,28,779 Volumes, with 73,999 titles and it subscribes for 114 journals and 85 Magazines.

UGC has sanctioned Rs. 75 Lakhs for introducing B. Voc. Programme in Information Technology and Accounting & Taxation. DST-FIST has sanctioned Rs.82.50 Lakhs towards ‘College as a Whole’ Scheme for the development of PG programmes. DBT has sanctioned Rs. 45.48 lakhs for the development of Life Sciences along with Basic Sciences at the UG level under “Star College Scheme”. UGC has sanctioned Rs.1 Crore for building Multipurpose Gymnasium. UGC has sanctioned Rs. 1.31 Crores under ‘College of Excellence’. Apart from this, the College has been sanctioned with research grants through various Funding Agencies, like UGC, ICSSR, DST, DBT, ICMR, TNSCST, etc., for carrying out Major and Minor Research Projects. The College Management has spent Rs. 11.66 Lakhs for promoting research activities through Faculty Development Programmes, management-sponsored research projects and reimbursement of expenses incurred towards presenting papers at conferences and seminars held both at national and international levels, paper publications, and patent registration. The College Management provided Student Support through Fee Concession and Noon Meal Scheme under Student Helpline for a sum of Rs. 1. 58 Crores Lakhs during 2022-2023.

Academic Programmes

The College now offers 10 Under-Graduate, 07 Post-Graduate in the Aided stream of study besides research programmes leading to M. Phil and Ph. D programms. The College started offers 29 Under-Graduate, 18 Post-Graduate and 01 Integrated PG programmes in the Self-Financing stream from the year 1985 onwards.

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.

As the slogan of Golden Jubilee goes ‘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.