The history of the University of Central Punjab can be traced back to 1985, when Punjab College of Commerce, the first institution under the auspices of the Islamic Commerce Educational Society, was established in Lahore. The Punjab Law College was inaugurated three years later in 1988 also in Lahore. The Punjab Group of Colleges branched out into major cities of Punjab. Pursuant to arrangements w
ith foreign accredited universities, the Punjab College of Business Administration (PCBA) was established in 1991 and the Punjab Institute of Computer Science (PICS) in 1993, at Lahore. In less than five years both institutions emerged as educational centres, training individuals as professional managers and computer scientists. By 1996, the Punjab Group of Colleges had established twelve campuses in cities of the Punjab and with more than 18,000 students enrolled at that time had emerged as the low educational network in the private sector in Pakistan. The group also established Mohammad Ali Jinnah University, Karachi, which was granted degree awarding status by the Government of Sindh by Ordinance No. S.LEGIS:1(7)/98/-, dated 1 July 1998. Muhammad Ali Jinnah University maintains twin campuses at Karachi and Islamabad, both recognized by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, the apex body for higher education in the country. In 2003 UCP started its engineering section which is recognized by HEC and accredited by the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC). It has about 500 students. On 15 August 1996 the Punjab Group of Colleges petitioned the government of the Punjab for the establishment of a university in the province. The government of the Punjab issued a No Objection Certificate to the establishment of the University (Notification No. S.O.(Univ.)9-4/99) dated 11 October 1999 and awarded a charter (Ordinance No. Legis. 13-80/2000) dated 10 April 2002. The University of Central Punjab is the first university in the private sector in Punjab which has been awarded a degree granting status by the Government. By then the Group had established 29 campuses and enrolled around twenty five thousand students. This number has now reached to 30 campuses with enrollment of around thirty thousand students. The University of Central started on 10 October 1999, the date of issuance of the No Objection Certificate and offered courses in Management Studies, Information Technology, Commerce and Law. Its principal constituent institutions i.e., the Punjab College of Business Administration (PCBA), Punjab Institute of Computer Science (PICS), Punjab College of Commerce (PCC), Punjab Law College (PLC) and Punjab College of Information Technology (PCIT), all at Lahore, formed the core of the University at the time of establishment. Following a restructuring in 2004, the PCBA and PICS operate under the Faculty of Management Studies and Faculty of Information Technology of the University of Central Punjab respectively. The Punjab Colleges of Commerce and the Punjab Law College respectively function under the Faculties of Commerce and of Law of the University of Central Punjab. The Faculty of Engineering (FOE) has was introduced in 2002. It has been accredited by the Pakistan Engineering Council. The Faculties of Languages and Literature, and Arts and Social Sciences will be housed at the main campus of the University, which is to be established by 2012.
