In 1878, the number of colleges in the district was two and they were the Madurai Diraviam Thayumanavar Hindu College and St. John’s College. These are the oldest colleges in the district. The first college for women and third college of the district, Sarah Tucker College came up in 1895. The fourth college started in the district was the St. Xavier’s college of Education and St. Ignatious college of Education ( both are Training Colleges) were established in 1950 and 1957 respectively. In the year 1963-64, two more colleges, the Paramakalyani College and the Parasakthi college were added to the list of colleges. Ambai Arts College and Thiruvalluvar College in 1969, Muthuramalinga Thevar College and Government Arts College for Women were in 1970, Sadaktathullah Appa College and T.D.M.N.S. College in 1971 were started in the district. Except for Government Arts College for Women, all other colleges are aided private colleges run by different educational Trusts.

In this district there are three self financing colleges, they were Saratha College for Women ( 1986 ), Sattanathakarayalar College ( 1994-95) and Jayaraj Annabakkiam College (1997-98).

Of the 17 Arts Colleges that exist in the district at present, eight are co-educational institutions, five exclusively for girls and four exclusively for boys. The colleges in Tirunelveli district had been first affiliated to the University of Madras. But on the creation of the Madurai Kamaraj University in 1966, they had their affiliation with that University from 1966 to 1990. Again from 1990 they got their affiliation transferred to the Manonmaniam Sundaranar University on bifurcation. The University has granted autonomous status to the two premier institutions in the district, viz. St. Xavier’s College at Palayamkottia and Sri Parasakthi College for Women at Courtallam.

The Regional Directorate of the Collegiate Education in the District was formed on 10 September 1979, to exercise control over the colleges in Tirunelveli, Thoothukkudi and Kanniyakumari districts.

The Tirunelveli Government Medical College and its teaching hospital are located in an extensive area of about 350 acres of land at High Grounds, Palayamcottai.  It was started in the year 1965, affiliated to the University of Madras, with an admitted strength of 75 students for the academic year 1965-66. However, these students had to undergo their first year study in the local Arts and Science Colleges. In July 1966, the first batch of second year MBBS students started attending the classes in the newly constructed Anatomy Block. Other Departments like Pharmacology, Pathology, Microbiology and Social and Preventive Medicine started functioning in the subsequent years and the District Headquarters Hospital was converted into Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital. This college was affiliated to the Madurai Kamaraj University subsequent to its inception in the year 1967. Since 1988, on the formation of Dr. MGR Medical University it has been affiliated to the Medical University.

The college was recognised by the Medical Council of India, New Delhi in 1978. The number of seats for the MBBS Course was increased from 75 to 100 in 1980 and in the same year the State Government accorded sanction for the starting of Post-graduate courses.

The following post graduate degree diploma courses are conducted in the college : M.D. General Medicne-2, M.D. Pathology-1. M.D. Mico Biology-1, M.D.Ortho-2, M.D. Forensic Medicine-1, M.S. General Surgery-2, D.G.O-4,. The college celebrated its Silver Jubilee in the year 1990.

The Government Siddha Medical College was started at Palayamkottai on 30th November 1964. This was an affiliated College of the University of Madras till March 1966 and from then on till 1988 it was an affiliate of Madurai Kamaraj University and since March 1989 to Dr. MGR Medical University.

The history of technical education in the district can be traced back to 1844 when Mrs. Caldweel, wife of Bishop Caldwell, started a school for girls to teach lace making at Idyangudi The Government of Tamilnadu set up a State Board of Technical Education and Training and a separate Directorate of Technical Education with effect from 1^st October 1957. The Directorate of Technical Education has taken over the administration of both engineering colleges and polytechnics since then.

Government College of Engineering

The Government College of Engineering, was started in October 1981 to fulfill the needs of the people of the Southern region. At first, the College was functioning in a bungalow near Tirunelveli Medical College since new buildings were under construction. Then in 1984 the College started to function in the new buildings in the new campus with an extent of 25 hectares. The current location is about 8 km. from Tirunelveli Junction on the Tirunelveli-Trivandrum Highway.