Alagappa University was originally founded by Alagappa Chettiar in 1947 as Alagappa Arts College. In 1985 the college was granted full university status by the Tamil Nadu government and became Alagappa University.

The university is located in Karaikudi, a municipal town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

The university is organised into four academic faculties: the faculty of arts, faculty of science, faculty of management, and the faculty of education. Each faculty is subdivided into different schools, which offer a range of both undergraduate and graduate degree programmes.

Students are given the opportunity to study abroad as part of the university’s study exchange programmes. The university has developed 41 international exchange programmes with higher education institutions around the world in countries including Australia, China, Singapore, Malaysia, and South Korea.

The University Science Instrumentation Centre was established to advance the quality of research in basic and applied fields of science.