The Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod, came into being in 2009 under the Central Universities Act 2009 (Parliament Act No. 25 of 2009). The University is founded on the noble vision of a ‘Caring Wisdom’ and is guided by the lofty ideals of academic and social commitment, moral steadfastness and intellectual and spiritual enlightenment, as reflected in the vision statement. The University opened its academic portals in October 2009 with 17 students enrolled in two PG programmes and operated from a rented building at Nayanmarmoola (Vidyanagar) in Kasaragod town. From this humble beginning the University has grown into an institution offering twenty seven postgraduate and twenty two research programmes with a total enrolment of around 2500 students. The campus of the University known as Thejaswini Hills is located at Periye, Kasaragod on the 310 acres of land allotted by the Govt. of Kerala in 2012. The permanent campus has a built-up area of 6,58,400 Sq Ft.

      In addition to headquarters located at Periya the University has Law department located at Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta and BA programme in International Relations is offered at Trivandrum Centre.

      Prof. Jancy James was the first Vice Chancellor (2009 – 2014) of CUK. She was followed by Prof. G. Gopakumar (2014 – 2020). Prof. H. Venkateshwarlu was the Vice Chancellor (Aug 2020-Oct 2023). Prof. Baiju K.C is the present Vice Chancellor(I/c)