Dhaka Central University

public · general · Dhaka · verified (verified 2026-05-18)

Profile

Ownership: public
Vice-Chancellor: Professor Dr. Md. Nurul Islam
Students: 200000
Faculty: 1000
Annual budget: —
Established: 2026
District: Dhaka

Newly operational federal university with first VC in place since March 2026 and first admission cycle launched; financial burden on new government unresolved as no standalone budget has been announced.

Recent activity

2026-02-08 legal Dhaka Central University Ordinance, 2026 gazetted by the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, formally establishing DCU to affiliate seven Dhaka government colleges (Dhaka College, Eden Mohila College, Government Shaheed Suhrawardy College, Kabi Nazrul Government College, Begum Badrunnesa Government Women's College, Mirpur Government Bangla College, Government Titumir College). ↗↗
2026-02-16 appointment Interim government appointed Professor Dr. ASM Abdul Hasib (Dean, Postgraduate Studies, BUET) as first VC of DCU via gazette notification under Section 11(1) of the Ordinance; he did not formally join before the new government took office. ↗↗
2026-03-16 appointment BNP-Tarique government appointed Professor Dr. Md. Nurul Islam (former Pro-VC, National University; Jahangirnagar University Geography faculty) as VC of DCU, replacing the interim-era appointee who never formally joined. ↗↗↗
2026-03-17 appointment Gazette notification confirmed Professor Dr. Md. Nurul Islam's appointment as DCU VC for a four-year term; effective immediately, required full-time campus presence. ↗
2026-04-10 legal National Parliament passed the Dhaka Central University Bill, 2026 by voice vote, converting the February ordinance into permanent statute; presided over by Deputy Speaker Barrister Kayser Kamal. ↗↗↗
2026-04-10 admission First admission circular under DCU issued for academic year 2025-26; 11,150 total seats across seven colleges (Science 4,773, Humanities 4,492, Commerce 1,885); entrance based on SSC/HSC results and a central examination with 0.25-mark negative marking. ↗↗

Provenance & notes

DCU is a genuine, newly established institution -- not a proposal or renamed college. Established by ordinance on 2026-02-08 as a federal university affiliating seven historic Dhaka government colleges (total ~200,000 students, ~1,000 faculty across all seven). Not a new standalone campus: each college retains its site and identity. Established year set to 2026 (gazette effective date). Student and faculty counts are aggregates across all seven affiliated colleges per press reports; no disaggregated DCU-only figure yet published. Annual budget is unverified: no UGC allocation or finance ministry budget line found for DCU as a standalone entity as of 2026-05-18 (one press report flagged a 'thousand crore' infrastructure burden on the new government but gave no specific figure). VC history: interim government appointed ASM Abdul Hasib (BUET) on 2026-02-16 who never joined; BNP-Tarique government replaced him with Prof. Md. Nurul Islam (JU/National University) effective 2026-03-17. ugc_recognized set true per UGC university list (http://www.ugc-universities.gov.bd/university-detail/245, SSL error prevented direct fetch but UGC ID 245 confirmed in search results). campus_count set to 7 reflecting the seven affiliate college campuses. Website dcu.ac.bd confirmed in multiple sources; dcu.bd is a separate admission-portal domain.

Dhaka Central University

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