Cotton College, Guwahati

The Cotton College in Guwahati has been rechristened as the Cotton University, post the merger in 2017 of the college by the name with the Cotton College State University (CCSU). The merged entity may be new, but the original Cotton College has tremendous history and heritage value, having been founded way back in the year 1901.

It was the oldest institution for higher education, not just for the state of Assam, but also for the whole of the North- East region, back then. It was initially named after Sir Henry Stedman Cotton. The college also received the Special Heritage College status in 2015, having been declared as a Centre of Excellence in 1992.

The Cotton College was initially affiliated to the Calcutta University, but later became a constituent unit of the Gauhati University, in 1948 post- independence. Even later came under the aegis of the Cotton College State University in 2011. The Cotton University has been accredited by the NAAC (National Assessments and Accreditation Council) with an A++ grade rating. Research is a very important part here.

The Cottonian magazine is published towards that prerogative. The alumni of the Cotton College is like a Who’s Who of prominence in Assam. The list includes the likes of – Gopinath Bordoloi, Bhupen Hazarika, Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa, Anupam Saikia and Indira Goswami among others. Courses are available at the Cotton University right from the UG till the doctoral levels.

At the undergrad level, courses are available from all three major streams of science, arts and commerce. Those provided here includes- Assamese, Arabic, Bengali, Anthropology, Bodo, Chemistry, Economics, Botany, Geology, Education, English, Geography, Computer Science & IT, Hindi, History, Philosophy, Physics, Sanskrit, Political Science, Mathematics, Persian, Zoology and Statistics.

Most of these programmes may also be undertaken at the master’s level, with some exceptions. Sociology, Psychology, Computer Applications and Molecular Biology & Biotechnology are the additional areas which may be pursued at this stage. Doctoral programmes may also be undertaken here, for those with a research personality. A lot of these courses may be undertaken within the CBCS (Choice Based Credit System) scheme.

One unique aspect about the Cotton University is that students may even undertake Higher Secondary school studies over here. The college offers studies post class 10 here. The entire academics here at the Cotton University is run by a cohort of five Faculty departments, each possessing expertise in its own area.

These faculty departments are in the areas of- Life Sciences, Earth Sciences and in Human & Social Sciences. There is also the Faculty of Physical, Chemical and Mathematical Sciences. The fifth one is the Faculty of Languages, Literature and Linguistics. The campus has much to offer. There are hostel facilities for both boys and girls. Banking facilities with ATM are available in the campus’s vicinity.

Science laboratories have the latest of equipment. A health centre is also there to cater to medical emergencies. Hygienic food is prepared at the college cafeteria. A convenience store is also located within campus. The library here is one of the best stocked within the region.

Besides the physical books on display, it also provides digital access to en number of international academic journals for research and academic purposes. It is known here as the SKB Library.