The New College is a Government - Aided Muslim minority College affiliated to the University of Madras. It was founded by the Muslim Educational Association of Southern India (MEASI). Since its founding in 1951 with about 200 intermediate course students, The New College has rigorously upheld commitment to providing quality Higher Education to the deserving students, especially from weaker sections of the society. The college is currently run by a Managing Committee of the MEASI under the Chairmanship of H. H. Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali, Prince of Arcot.

The New college campus also houses three other institutions run by its parent body viz., MEASI Academy of Architecture, MEASI Institute of Management and MEASI Institute of Information Technology. Although the college and its allied institutions were established with a view to educationally empower students belonging to the Muslim community in Tamil Nadu, the college has students and teachers from different communities and from almost all parts of India.

The New College became autonomous in the year 2007, and it is recently re-accredited by NAAC with „A? Grade (3rd Cycle).