Gushkara is a sprawling Municipal Town in the northern part of Burdwan Sadar Sub-Division. To the north of Gushkara lies Santiniketan where poet Rabindra Nath Tagore spent most of his creative years. The district town of Burdwan is to the south of Gushkara which is flanked on the east by Bhatar and Mongalkote and on the west by Jangalmahal. Kunur the major tributary of the river Ajay flows through the town. Archaeological finding have established that human habitation in the area surrounding the confluence of Ajay and Kunur dates back to at least three thousand years. Gushkara is now an important railway station in the Burdwan – Sahibgunj loop line. It is situated at a distance of 135 km. from Kolkata.
Thanks to the missionary zeal of the eminent academician late Rakhahari Bakshi and generous support from the prominent citizens of the locality, Gushkara Mahavidyalaya was founded on the 9th August, 1965. The college campus, covering an area of 7.3 acres was donated by Gushkara Purnananda Public Institution. It is situated close to the banks of the river Kunur.
Gushkara, Galsi, Mongalkote, Ausgram and Bhatar constitute the catchments area of the college. By virtue of road and rail communications, a large number of students from such far-flung areas as Chittaranjan, Asansol, Durgapur Katwa, Kalna, Memari, Bolpur and Arambag block to the college for pursuing their studies leading a Bachelor's degree in various disciplines.
Bringing the fruits of higher education to an agrarian belt has been a primary aim of the college since its inception. No wonder then that a sizeable section of the students of the college are first generation learner belonging to scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and minority (Muslim) communities.
Gushkara Mahavidyalaya is affiliated to The University of Burdwan. The college offers undergraduate course in Arts, Science, Commerce, Post Graduate Course in Bengali and a Certificate Course in Yoga. At present there is provision for studying seventeen subjects out of which sixteen are Honours/Major subjects and the rest are General/Minor subjects.
