Salesian College, with its campuses in Siliguri since 2009 and Sonada in Darjeeling district, is a Government recognized, minority educational institution of the Catholic Church, run by Salesians of Don Bosco, Kolkata Province. The autonomous status was communicated during a meeting of principals of colleges affiliated with North Bengal University on December 21, 2022.

While thanking the West Bengal government for granting autonomous status, Fr Thadathil said, “Being the first college in North Bengal to be autonomous, we now have the task of being a trailblazer in Higher Education standards.”

Salesian College, established in 1933 in Shillong in the state of Meghalaya, and translocated to Sonada in Darjeeling in 1938, is the third non-engineering college in Bengal to be autonomous. The other two are St Xavier’s College Kolkata (1860) and Ramkrishna Mission College Narendarpur Kolkata (1960).

Currently, around 2,100 students do their Arts/Humanities, Commerce, Science and Professional Courses under the North Bengal University from 24 departments in Undergraduate Honours Courses and Post Graduate Courses in English, Education and Psychology. Another 400-plus students pursue Undergraduate studies in 10 courses in the Sonada campus, Darjeeling.

The academic community has a team of 10 Salesians in management and 104 faculty members. The college has completed three NAAC accreditation cycles and has retained an “A” grade in the last two, and is now gearing up for the fourth cycle of accreditation. The college has retained its status as a College with the Potential for Excellence.