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This is a list of higher education institutions in
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. The Sri Lankan law on publicly financed universities, the University Grants Commission controls 17 Sri Lankan universities and other educational institutions, as higher education institutions.


History

The origins of the modern university system in
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
dates back to 1921 when a
University college In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...
, the Ceylon University College was established at the former premises of
Royal College Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...
, and was affiliated with the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
. The college provided courses of study in art and humanities, science and medicine prepared undergraduates for examination at the University of London. The beginnings of modern higher education in Ceylon commenced in 1870 with the establishment of the Ceylon Medical School, followed by Colombo Law College (1875), School of Agriculture (1884) and the Government Technical College (1893). In 1942 the first university was established in the country was the
University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univer ...
which had several campuses island wide, Colombo (established 1942), Peradeniya (established 1949),
Vidyodaya Vidyodaya School is a private college-preparatory combined-grades school located in Thevakkal, Kochi, India. It provides comprehensive school education from lower primary to grade 12. About Established in 1990-91 the school conducts classes fr ...
(established 1959), Vidyalankara (established 1959) and Katubedda (established 1972).
Vidyodaya Vidyodaya School is a private college-preparatory combined-grades school located in Thevakkal, Kochi, India. It provides comprehensive school education from lower primary to grade 12. About Established in 1990-91 the school conducts classes fr ...
and Vidayalankara were established under the Vidyodaya and Vidayalankara University Act No 45 of 1958. The University of Ceylon was modelled on the Oxbridge formula, at its inception the university only accommodated 904 students, which later expanded to cover a number of universities and it remained as an elite-oriented university as stated by Sir
Ivor Jennings Sir William Ivor Jennings ( si, ශ්‍රීමත් අයිවර් ජෙනින්ග්ස්) (16 May 1903 – 19 December 1965) was a British lawyer and academic. He served as the vice chancellor of the University of Cambridge ( ...
, catering to a small number of students and exclusively residential. It was dissolved in 1972 to establish the
University of Sri Lanka The University of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, இலங்கைப் பல்கலைக்கழகம்) was the public university system of Sri Lanka from 1972 to 1978. Est ...
. In 1974 the Jaffna campus was added to the
University of Sri Lanka The University of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, இலங்கைப் பல்கலைக்கழகம்) was the public university system of Sri Lanka from 1972 to 1978. Est ...
. The change of the government in July 1977 led to dismantling of the single university apparatus with the plan of establishing independent universities. With the promulgation of the Universities Act. No 16 of 1978, state university status was restored to the six separate campuses. The University Grants Commission (UGC) was also created to plan and coordinate the state university education. After that, a number of state universities were created. All these state universities are registered under the University Grants Commission, but a few come under the auspices of ministries other than the
Ministry of Higher Education {{Unreferenced, date=March 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A Ministry of Higher Education is a government department that focuses on the provision or regulation of institutions of higher education. In some countries these exist as ministries compounde ...
, in which the UGC is a part of. Most of the state universities depend on funds given by the University Grants Commission, as it is their primary and sometimes only source of funding. Therefore, the UGC has a direct control over these universities and administer the undergraduate intake. The UGC is subordinate to the Ministry of Higher Education.


Legislation for universities

Universities in the Sri Lanka have generally been instituted by Special Presidential Decree, University Orders, Acts of Parliament and the Higher Education Act 1978.


Ordinance

*20 of 1942 Ceylon University


Acts of Parliament

*Ceylon University (Amendment) Act No.36 1956 *
Vidyodaya University Vidyodaya School is a private college-preparatory combined-grades school located in Thevakkal, Kochi, India. It provides comprehensive school education from lower primary to grade 12. About Established in 1990-91 the school conducts classes fr ...
and Vidyakara University Act No.45 of 1958 *Higher Education Act No.20 of 1960 *University of Ceylon Act No.01 of 1972 *Universities Act No.16 of 1978 (this Act established the University Grant Commission and a University Service Appeals Board provided for the administration of universities with their campuses and outset the six campuses of the single University of Sri Lanka, the set up under the previous Act No.1 of 1972, were converted to six independent universities on 1 January 1979)


Universities

There are currently seventeen universities in Sri Lanka, which are established under the authority of the University Grants Commission. All the following universities are recognised bodies with university status (
University charter A university charter is a charter issued by an authority to create or recognize a university. The earliest universities – Bologna, Paris and Oxford – arose organically from concentrations of schools in those cities rather than being ...
) under Universities Act No.16 of 1978.


Dissolved universities


University of Ceylon

The
University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univer ...
was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the University of Sri Lanka which existed from 1973 to 1978.


University of Sri Lanka

The
University of Sri Lanka The University of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, இலங்கைப் பல்கலைக்கழகம்) was the public university system of Sri Lanka from 1972 to 1978. Est ...
was a public university in Sri Lanka. Established in 1972 by amalgamating the four existing universities, it was the only university in Sri Lanka from 1972 until 1978. The university was based at six campuses in Colombo, Peradeniya, Sri Jayewardenepura, Kelaniya, Moratuwa and Jaffna. The university was dissolved in 1978 and its six campuses became independent universities.


Other government universities

Other Government Universities which are established by Acts of Parliament of Sri Lanka. These universities are not recognised bodies with university status or
university charter A university charter is a charter issued by an authority to create or recognize a university. The earliest universities – Bologna, Paris and Oxford – arose organically from concentrations of schools in those cities rather than being ...
under Universities Act No.16 of 1978.


Degree awarding institutes

Under the Section 25 A of the Universities Act No. 16 of 1978, following institutes have been recognised to award
degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...
s.


Rankings of universities


Webometrics rankings

2018
Webometrics Ranking of World Universities The Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, also known as Ranking Web of Universities, is a ranking system for the world's universities based on a composite indicator that takes into account both the volume of the Web content (number of web pages ...
for Sri Lankan universities are listed below.


See also

*
Higher education in Sri Lanka Higher education in Sri Lanka is an optional final stage of formal learning following secondary education. Higher education, also referred to as tertiary education occurs most commonly universities or degree-granting institutions. These may be publ ...
*
List of research universities in Sri Lanka Scientific research in Sri Lanka is carried out by several research institutions, however, historically Sri Lanka has been behind regional peers in research funding. Sri Lanka was ranked 95th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021 Funding The apex ...
*
List of colleges and universities This is a list of lists of universities and colleges. Subject of study * Aerospace engineering * Agriculture * Art schools * Business * Chiropractic * Engineering * Forestry * Law * Maritime studies * Medicine * Music * Nanotechnology * Osteopa ...
*
List of colleges and universities by country A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
* ''''


Notes


References

{{Asia topic, List of universities in
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
Universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...