The university propagates the ideals of the religious and social reformer Swami Dayanand Saraswati. It is the culmination of the movement that started with the founding of the first DAV institute to propagate the ideals of the religious and social reformer Swami Dayanand Saraswati in Lahore on June 1, 1886. The institute in Lahore was established byMahatma Hansraj.
Now, the DAV movement has grown to become the single largest non-governmental education society in the country managing 778 institutions imparting education to more than 10 lakh students in India.
DAV University is a multi-disciplinary institute, home to faculties of teaching excellence in subjects from engineering technology to languages, history to life sciences and encourages interdisciplinary study and believes that all areas of study can inform and enrich each other.