[3][4] After being elevated to university status in 2002, it has become one the ten largest educational institutions in Pakistan,[citation needed] with a student body of over 12,000.

Government College University is noted for its historical roots and produced notable scholars such as poet-philosopher Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Nobel laureates Har Gobind Khorana and Abdus Salam, former president of both the United Nations General Assembly and the International Court of Justice Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, scholar and novelist couple Bano Qudsia and Ashfaq Ahmed.

Under the leadership of Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner, a professor of Arabic and Islamic Law at King's College London, the college was established on 1 January 1864, located in the Palace of Raja Dhyan Singh Haveli (Dogra prime minister of Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Lahore) inside Walled City of Lahore, as an affiliated college of Calcutta University.

In 1873, its location was again changed to another house called Rahim Khan's Kothi due to rapidly increasing student strength.

[3] In 2002, it was promoted to university status by the government of Punjab; the word college was retained in its title for preserving its historical roots.

Built during the colonial era, the main building reflects the neo-Gothic tradition, with broad verandahs and elevated ceilings.

The main campus is spread over 56 acres along the Anarkali Bazaar, one of the oldest surviving markets in Lahore.

[13] The university offers degrees in Higher Secondary School Certificate (locally referred to as Intermediate), undergraduate and post-graduate studies.

[19] It receives research grants mostly from foreign universities like Strathclyde University, Cranfield University, World Bank Researchers Alliance for Development and British Council and from national institutes and organizations like Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF), Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), PTCL, Higher Education Commission and Ministry of Science and Technology.

[23] In 2011, it was labeled as the first "Emerging Regional Center of Excellence" by the European Mathematical Society (EMS) for the period 2011 to 2015.

Starting out as a semi-autonomous institute, it became operational in March 2000 with the efforts of Ishfaq Ahmad, a lifelong friend of Salam.

The former director of ICTP, Katepalli R. Sreenivasan, visited Lahore where he gifted the original Nobel certificate to the university's alma mater.

[35] During his tenure as a professor at the university, he set up High Tension Laboratory there in 1952 (now amalgamated into Center for Advanced Studies in Physics CASP) where research anent to gaseous discharges, ion, and electron impact phenomena, nuclear physics, radioactivity, and cosmic rays is carried out.

Its intent is to act as a platform for researchers, professionals, and students to share their achievements, perspectives, and practical experiences.

The film is produced by a group of young Ravians which laid the foundation of the annual Harry Potter Festival at GCU.