Pune was called "The Oxford of the east" by Jawaharlal Nehru,India's first Prime Minister, due to the well known academic and research institutions in the city and its popularity amongst students. The temperate climate of the city is responsible for the green campuses of many colleges, and the prevalent academic mindset amongst Punekars helps nurture research and higher education.

Schools in Pune are either run by the PMC, in which case they are called Municipality schools, or privately by trusts and individuals. Private schools have been preferred by a majority of city residents because of better facilities. These schools use either Marathi or English as the medium of instruction. All private schools are affiliated either with the Maharashtra state SSC board or the all-India Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) and CBSE boards. Prominent among Pune schools is the Rewachand Bhojwani Academy, Camp, which has been featured on BBC World recently for its style of education, which is off the beaten track.

Pune is the largest center for Japanese learning in India and the JLPT exams are held in Pune annually (December). The Japanese language training is provided by the University of Pune among others. Other languages like German (Max Muller Bhavan) and French (Alliance Francaise de Poona) are also popular amongst Punekars. Some high schools like St. Vincent's, Loyola's and St. Anne's optionally train students in French, German and Russian from the 8th grade onwards.