The Government of West Bengal established Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University under the West Bengal Act XXI of 2012 and The Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University Act 2012.

The university, which functioned from its camp office at Central Farmers' Hostel, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, shifted to its permanent campus on Vivekananda Street, near Krishi Bij Khamar, Cooch Behar, on 19 August 2015.

Before this, through a July 2015 order from the Department of Higher Education, Government of West Bengal, 15 general-degree colleges, mostly from the district of Cooch Behar, were initially affiliated to the University.

Presently, Prof. Syamal Roy, originally from the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, is officiating as the first permanently appointed vice-chancellor.

The Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University has 19 departments organized into two faculty councils.