Begum Rokeya University

Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur named after a legendary woman scholar Begum Rokeya who pioneered and promoted female education in Indo-Pak-Bangla subcontinent, is located in the city of Rangpur, in the north east zone of Bangladesh. With its so-called connotations of impoverishment, deprivation and poverty, Rangpur is a culturally vibrant place – an excellent center of arts, culture and education. It prides itself on its rich heritage of numerous contributions and achievements of many scholars, poets, novelists, social and political thinkers and philanthropists. Here are a good number of age-old educational institutions and cultural organizations.


The construction of Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur is still continuing in its own campus on the outskirts of Rangpur in the south. Rangpur, a peaceful and tranquil town, is just a 6 hours’ drive from the bustling, crowded city of Dhaka. However, it has good transportation facilities – train, bus and airlines. It is easily accessible because of its interconnecting transportation routes and linkages between all the districts of the country.


Since 1947, a university in this region has been a long cherished dream. A popular demand for a kind of university which can reach out to a large number of students desiring higher education in this vast region has always been intensely felt but has never been fulfilled. Fortunately, on October 12, 2008 Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur (initially named as Rangpur University) was founded and started its academic activities from the session 2008 – 2009, following the semester system. Each academic year consists of 2 semesters (one semester lasting for 6 months including holidays and vacations).


At the beginning of the university, about 18000 (eighteen thousand) students from different parts of Bangladesh contested for only 300 seats in the first admission test of this university. These three hundred students were enrolled into 6 departments under 2 faculties – Bangla, English, Economics and Business Administration under the Faculty of Arts and Social Science; and Mathematics and Computer Science and Engineering under the Faculty of Science and Engineering


Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur has a good faculty of lecturers, assistant professors, associate professors and professors who were educated and earned their degrees at home and abroad. In the process of its expansion, the University is still recruiting more teachers and officials. With the patronage of the local philanthropists, Begum Rokeya Scholarlship Foundation has been formed for the talented students. Within a very short time, Begum Rokeya University has successfully organized different events and programs – Bangla New Year, Rabindra-Nazrul Birth Anniversary, Inter-Department Debate and Football Competitions, National Mourning Day and so on.


The university hopes to go a long way to meet the needs for quality education, and to be an excellent center for research and other social activities.