ANDHRA UNJIVERSITY was established in 1926 in the uplands of Visakhapatnam with Kailasa Hill as the backdrop and of Bay of Bengal in its front. The University is spread in a sprawling campus of 200 hectares dotted with more than 100 buildings. Presently the University is catering the Educational needs of five green districts namely Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam.
         The University campus is a self-contained township with two administration blocks out of which one is exclusively for housing the examination sections. The University has four constituent Colleges and four AU Campuses. The College of Arts and Commerce is the biggest constituent College in the University with 28 Departments offering 55 courses including 25 Diploma courses. The College of Science and Technology has 19 Departments, which offers 44 courses. The College of Engineering has 16 Departments involving in Undergraduate and Postgraduate Programmes. The College of Law has been identified as an advanced center in Law by UGC. The AU Campuses at Kakinada (East Godavari District.) has three Departments and the A U Campuses at Etcherla (Srikakulam Dist) has six Departments. During IX Plan period a Heavy water plant was started in the University and MJMC and Ph.D. Programmes were started in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication. Many Departments in Science and Technology and Engineering have been pursuing research projects with the financial assistance from external agencies like DST, CSIR etc.

          The University has started School of Distance Education in the Campus in 1972. If offers Courses in B.A., B.Com., B.Sc. (MPC, MPCS and MSCS), M.A. English, Hindi, Telugu, Economics, History, Politics & Public Administration, Sociology, Philosophy and Mathematics, M.Com, M.Ed., B.Ed., and eight P.G. Diploma Courses through Distance Education Mode. The School has 32 study centers across the State and a study center at Sri Venkateswara College Delhi. The enrolment in UG and PG Programmes in the School of Distance Education is about 97,000 students.