City College was started by Ananda Mohan Bose and the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj in 1881. In 1961, the college was trifurcated into three separate colleges–Rammohan College (morning college), City College (day college) and Ananda Mohan College (evening college). Till 2017, the college used to be administered by the Brahmo Samaj Education Society, a society constituted by the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj. Since then, it became a grant-in-aid college under the Department of Higher Education, Government of West Bengal no longer administered by the Brahmo Samaj Education Society.