The Central University of Karnataka (CUK) has been established by an Act of the Parliament (No. 3 of 2009) at Kalaburagi, Karnataka. It is one of the 16 new Central Universities established by the Government of India during the UGC XI Plan Period to address to the concerns of ‘equity and access’ and to increase the access to quality higher education by people in less educationally developed districts which have a Graduate Enrolment Ratio of less than the national average of 11%.

The CUK, with its territorial jurisdiction all over Karnataka has been initiated its activities from the academic year beginning August 2009 in keeping with the philosophy of achieving and maintaining the highest levels of academic excellence, sensitivity to equity and access in enrolment and recruitment and emerging as a premier national educational and research institution in the country.

The University has 654 acres campus, situated near Kadaganchi village in the district of Kalaburagi, Karnataka State. It is claimed that CUK is the first Central University to move to its permanent campus in a short time among the new ones. The main objective of this growing University is to integrate teaching, learning, training, research, innovation and skill development with an aspiration to excel in undergraduate, post graduate and doctoral studies. The University offers programmes in six major areas: Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Management, Sciences, and Engineering. The University is working towards making the campus green, energy efficient and sustainable.