The Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira is a fully residential degree college for boys affiliated to the University of Calcutta founded in 1941 by the Ramakrishna Mission. The very name 'Vidyamandira' was given by Swami Vivekananda back in 1898 who had envisioned such an institution modelled on the ancient Indian 'Gurukula' system. Swami Vimuktanandaji and Swami Tejasanandaji Maharajs were the first Secretary and the first Principal, respectively, of this premier institute of higher learning. It has been accredited 'A+' grade by the NAAC, India in 2005. At present 13 Undergraduate and 3 Postgraduate courses are offered here. At the very beginning, it started as an Intermediate Arts College. In the year between 1945 to 1946, the college got affiliation in both commerce and science subjects. It was upgraded into a three-year degree college from July 1960. The higher secondary section was added in September 1978 and later on discontinued as per the West Bengal state government policy. In the year 1994, two new courses, B.Sc in Computer Applications and Industrial Chemistry commenced under the UGC scheme of vocationalization of degree education. Postgraduate courses in Bengali, Sanskrit and Mathematics have been introduced recently.

In April 2010 the University Grants Commission has recognized Vidyamandira as a 'Centre of Potential for Excellence', and in June 2010 Vidyamandira has been awarded with the 'Autonomous' status in academic affairs, implying that Vidyamandira will be able to frame the syllabi, introduce new course at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, formulate teaching-learning-evaluation methods and offer degrees of it own.