Madras Christian College began on 3 April 1837 as the General Assembly School, opened in George Town by the Rev. John Anderson, a Church of Scotland missionary. It took the name Madras Christian College on 1 January 1877, and on 30 January 1937, its centenary year, it moved out of the city to a forest at Selaiyur, Tambaram, in what the college still calls the Great Migration. The college’s own timeline puts the campus at 400 acres.
That move is why one of Chennai’s oldest colleges sits beside GST Road rather than in George Town. This is the story of how a mission school became an autonomous college, told through the dates the college records.
Anderson’s school in George Town
Anderson was the first Church of Scotland missionary in Madras, according to Tamil Nadu Tourism’s account of the city’s Scots, and he later founded the Free Church of Scotland mission there. His school taught in English, and over the next three decades it grew into one of the best known institutions in the Presidency.
The school’s growth came under William Miller, who arrived in 1862. In 1865 it began F.A. classes, the two-year course that then sat between school and degree, and in 1867 the B.A. followed. That made it a college in all but name. The history department’s page notes that history was a required subject from those first F.A. classes and that the department itself was formed in 1887, making it one of the oldest in India.
Miller’s college opposite the High Court
Miller gave the institution its present name on 1 January 1877. Tamil Nadu Tourism says buildings and hostels opposite the High Court were funded by Miller’s family, old students and the Madras government, and that the main buildings were designed by the Swiss architect Henry Schaetti. A small Victorian chapel on the old campus, Anderson Church, still carries the founder’s name.
The college was affiliated to the University of Madras, which then only examined students. Madras Musings records that the Presidency had 24 affiliated colleges in 1881; MCC was among the leading ones, alongside Presidency College.
The Great Migration to Tambaram
By the 1930s George Town was crowded and noisy, and there was no room to grow. The college chose the scrub forest at Selaiyur and moved on 30 January 1937. In the same centenary year it set up its residential halls: Selaiyur, St Thomas’s and Bishop Heber. In 1938 the new campus hosted the International Missionary Conference.
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1837 | General Assembly School founded (3 April) |
| 1865 | F.A. classes begin |
| 1867 | B.A. course begins |
| 1877 | Named Madras Christian College (1 January) |
| 1937 | Move to Tambaram (30 January); first three halls |
| 1939 | Women students admitted |
| 1962 | Chandran Devanesen becomes first Indian Principal |
| 1968 | Women’s hostel moves on to the campus |
| 1978 | Autonomy granted |
| 2016 | UGC College with Potential for Excellence |
Women, autonomy and Indian leadership
Women were admitted in 1939. For years they lived off campus: a women’s hostel was set up in Guindy in 1950 and moved to Tambaram only in 1968. Margaret Hall, the second women’s hall, was dedicated in 2009 and Barnes Hall, the third, in 2016.
Dr Alexander Boyd led the college for 18 years from 1938 to 1956, steering it through its first decades in Tambaram. In 1962, its 125th year, Dr Chandran Devanesen became the first Indian Principal. Autonomy came in 1978, which the college notes made it one of the earliest autonomous colleges in the country, free to set its own syllabus and exams while still awarding University of Madras degrees.
MCC today
- Departments: 39, across the aided stream and the self-financed stream started in 1999.
- Accreditation: NAAC re-accredited the college with an A grade in 2013 and 2016, the college’s timeline says.
- Ranking: the college lists itself 14th in the 2024 NIRF college rankings.
- Green campus: a 500 kWp solar plant commissioned in 2018, which the college says meets half its power needs, and a lake rededicated on 26 July 2024 with a capacity of nearly 20 million litres.
- Newer additions: the MCC Boyd-Tandon School of Business (2016) and the MCC-MRF Innovation Park, formally inaugurated on 14 December 2024.
The campus sits off GST Road near Tambaram, a short walk from the Tambaram suburban station and the Tambaram Sanatorium side. It is a working college, so visitors need permission from the administration for anything beyond the main road through the campus.
Quick answers
When was Madras Christian College founded?
Its forerunner, the General Assembly School, opened on 3 April 1837. The name Madras Christian College dates from 1 January 1877.
Why did MCC move to Tambaram?
George Town had no room to grow. The college moved to the Selaiyur forest on 30 January 1937.
When did MCC admit women?
In 1939.
Is MCC autonomous?
Yes, since 1978. It awards University of Madras degrees.
Information checked against official sources on 18 October 2026. Fees, dates and rules can change; confirm on the linked official pages before acting.
