An affiliating university is one that sets courses of study, conducts examinations, and awards educational credentials, but leaves the chore of undergraduate instruction to an array of colleges; the affiliation, then, is between university and college.
Most universities in India are of this type, as are Oxford and Cambridge Universities.
Since December 2001, it has become a large affiliatinguniversity, with almost all engineering colleges in the state of Tamil Nadu under its fold.
The University's main campus is situated in the Southern Part of Chennai and extends over 100 acres (400,000 m²) adjoining the Adyar River and the Raj Bhavan.
The third campus of the University is located at Taramani near the Instronic campus, Adyar.