Punjabi University Patiala, one of the premier institutions of higher education in the north of India, was established on 30th April, 1962 under the Punjab Act No. 35 of 1961. This is the second University in the world to be named after a language, the first being Hebrew University of Israel.

The Department of Distance Education was established in 1968 and has been a pioneer institute imparting education through the distant mode and has been the second institute in the country to adopt the non-formal mode of imparting education. For the first time in the country, this Department offered regional language as the medium of instruction and examination. Presently, the Department is managing 4l multi-faculty programmes. Student’s enrolment in the Department is as high as ten to twelve thousand every year.

Punjabi University takes pride in the achievement of Five Star status awarded by the NAAC, an autonomous body of the UGC. The University has a modern well-planned campus situated on Patiala-Chandigarh road. Sprawling across 316 acres, the campus is away from the din and noise of the city markets and roads. It presents a splendid sight of a complex of beautiful buildings which include the famous Gru Gobind Singh Bhawan.