Sri Sarada College of Education was established in the year 1968-69 by the dynamic effort of Mrs. Seetha Lakshmi Ramaswamy(Yatiswari Sarada Priya) under the presidentship of Srimath Swami Chidbhavananda of Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam, Tirupparaithurai. With the aim of moulding the future teachers with intellectual, moral and spiritual values, Sri Sarada College Education Trust, Salem propels the institution in the promising path.
Sri Sarada College of Education is a Government aided college and it was affiliated to the University of Madras from its inception to 1998. Autonomy status was conferred in the year 1988-89. It was an affiliated college of Periyar University from 1998-2008. Since 2008, Sri Sarada College of Education has been affiliated to Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University, Chennai.
The NACC has accredited the institution with a Three-star status in 1999. In March 2007, the college was reaccredited with ‘A' grade. The college successfully retained the ‘A' grade in the III cycle also in September 2014. The College has been recognized by NCTE to conduct Teacher Education Programmes.