Established in 1918, Osmania University was founded by Nawab Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad. OU Hyderabad is the seventh oldest university in India, the third oldest in south India. Osmania University is a state university accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with a grade of A+. There are almost 500 colleges (both government and private) affiliated to Osmania University that offer various technical and non-technical courses at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral levels. Osmania University offers UG programmes, PG programmes, postgraduate diploma, research programmes and certificate programmes. In NIRF 2021 Ranking, Osmania University has been ranked 62nd in the overall category. For the university category, Osmania University has been ranked 32 in the NIRF ranking 2021 whereas the varsity was ranked 29 in the same category for the year 2020.

There are 5 constituent colleges of Osmania University namely University College for Women, Nizam College, University College of Science, Saifabad, University PG College, Secunderabad, and PG College of Law Basheerbagh. Osmania University has established 12 faculties composed of various departments. Some of them are the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Business Management, Faculty of Commerce, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Law etc. The university is recognised by University Grants Commission (UGC). The university is spread over 1300 acres of land, consisting of more than 30,000 students. Osmania University has collaborated with various institutions such as College of Defense Management Sainikpuri, ONGC, Dehradun, Mahasarakham University, Mahasarakham, Thailand, Chief Electoral Officer, Andhra Pradesh to name a few.