J.S.S. Banashankari Arts, Commerce, and Shantikumar Gubbi Science College, Dharwad was established in 1944 by the Karnataka Education Board with a mere strength of forty students.

It is one of the premier colleges established to impart & provide in the field of higher education for the deserving candidates and prove to be a milestone in the part of progress.

The college is affiliated to Karnatak University, Dharwad and recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC) under section 2(f) & 12(B) under Act, 1956.
 
It is re-accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with "A" Grade - (CGPA Score 3.15 on a 4 Point Scale in 3rd Cycle) on 15th September 2016.

The college is situated in picturesque surroundings on the top of the Mailarling Hill, now called Vidyagiri, 2,511 feet (765 m) above sea level, on the outskirts of Dharwad, on the Poona-Bangalore Road. The college accommodates a school and its hostel, a post office and a bank. The whole campus measures about 41 Acres (170,000 m2) and 27 Gunthas.

Banashankari Arts and Commerce and Shantikumar Gubbi Science College is popularly known as J. S. S. or Janata Shikshana Samiti College after the name of the Trust that now runs it.

It has been declared a Lead College by the Commissioner of Collegiate Education, Karnataka. Affiliated to Karnataka University, Dharwad, it saw its inception in 1944 under the Karnataka Education Board as an intermediate college, its science wing being added in 1949. The college came under a new management, that of the J. S. S. in 1973.

It was taken over by the late Shri R.S. Hukkerikar, the veteran freedom fighter, constructive worker and educationist in 1952. It was started as an intermediate college but the science wing was added in 1949.

With the increasing student strength, the college was bifurcated into the Banashankari Arts College and S.K.

Gubbi Science College in 1966. The two colleges were once again amalgamated in June 1975.

After taking over the management of Janata Shikshana Samiti on 18th October 1973 by Pujya Shri Vishweshateertha Sripadangalavaru of Pejavarmath and Pujya Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari of Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala, the new management added a two-year P.U. job-oriented diploma course and Commerce section to the college in 1975 and 1977 respectively.

The college offers courses leading to a B.A. degree in Kannada, Sanskrit, Marathi English, Economics, Sociology, Political Science, History, Geography, Hindi, and Education as optional subjects.

It has a Commerce wing and on the Science side, the college provides B.Sc. degree courses in Chemistry, Physics, Botany, Zoology, Statistics, Electronics, Mathematics as optional subjects.