Government College of Engineering, Karad is one among seven engineering colleges established by State Government of Maharashtra and first among those established post independence. The prime objective of establishing college was to impart quality technical education to the youth in rural part of Maharashtra. Basically three institutes i.e. Engineering College, Government Polytechnic and Pharmacy College started functioning in the same premises. Other Colleges were then shifted to their independent premises and the heritage building was retained by the college.

The college was established in 1960 with under graduate programmes in three core branches of Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, initially affiliated to Pune University and subsequently to Shivaji University in 1972. PG programmes (Master of Engineering) in these disciplines too were started in 1967. Till date, the institute has produced more than 13000 engineers in these disciplines as well as more than 1500 post graduate engineers. * The UG programs in Civil, Mechanical and Electrical has been ‘permanently affiliated’ to Shivaji University. In response to the drive of globalization and Industry needs the Institute started MCA (Master of Computer Applications) course in 1992. This was the only engineering Institute in Maharashtra to offer the MCA course in engineering discipline. Till date, this institute has produced more than 700 computer professionals serving for the needs of Industry. Subsequently in 1995 all disciplines of the institute were approved by AICTE (AICTE established in 1994). With the boom in Information Technology, Department of Technical Education, Maharashtra shouldered the responsibility of starting the bachelor’s degree course in IT to cater to the need of meritorious students in this region and the new branch of engineering in Information Technology was started in the Institute from 2001. In due course of time the institute has also started a under graduate programme in Electronics and Telecommunications in 2007.

With the state of art equipment and well qualified faculty, the institute got accredited by National Board of Accreditation in 2006 in the three well established core disciplines by the NBA. As the process of accreditation is continuous, now the institute is prepared to go for second round of accreditation for its all disciplines. With the mission and vision to excel in the field of engineering education the institute is a recognized research center for pursuing Ph. D. in Mechanical and Civil Engineering. To substantiate the academic performance and progress of the institute brief information is provided below. Today, CEK offers five UG and six PG programmes, and has more than 1600 students enrolled in its various courses.

CEK has a beautiful green campus of about 40 acres. All departments & laboratories are housed on the campus. Hostels accommodating more than 800 students, including 240 girl students, as well as residential accommodation for teaching & non-teaching staff of the college are available on the campus. Consciously developed, the campus has retained & increased its green cover, rich in natural flora & fauna, & provides an attraction for bird watchers. Karad is also a culturally vibrant town and boasts of being a major center of education in Western Maharashtra.

Apart from imparting professional education at under graduate and postgraduate levels, the institute has been extending available expertise to various Govt. / Semi- Govt. and primary objective of institute is to provide advanced technological skills & expertise to enhance teaching & academic activities. Greater emphasis is also being placed on revenue generation through utilisation of facilities for providing services to the industries on commercial basis.