The University of Ruhuna is a Sri Lankan public university located in Matara. Dr. Nissanka Wijeyeratne, the Cabinet Minister of Education and Higher Education at the time, advocated the idea of a University of Ruhuna.

It is the only university in Sri Lanka's southern area (also referred to as the Kingdom of Ruhuna). It was founded as Ruhuna University College on September 1, 1978, by a Special Presidential Decree, and promoted to a full university on February 1, 1984, by a university edict. Ruhuna University, or just Ruhuna, is its colloquial name.

The University is divided into eleven faculties and is located throughout Sri Lanka's southern province. The main campus, which spans 72 acres (29 ha), is located in Matara's Wellamadama complex. Engineering, Medicine, and Allied Health Sciences institutions are in Galle, whereas Agriculture and Technology faculties are at Kamburupitiya (Matara). The university's financial endowment of LKR 5.49 billion is utilised for academic and research objectives. It manages the Ruhuna Library, one of Sri Lanka's largest academic and research library systems. The Ruhuna University Library System is focused on the main library on the Wellamadama main campus and includes roughly four more libraries with a combined collection of over 200,000 volumes.

Website: www.ruh.ac.lk

The University of Peradeniya, located 110 kilometers from Colombo, was founded on July 1, 1942 in Colombo and transferred to Peradeniya in 1952. University of Ceylon (1942 - 1952), University of Ceylon, Peradeniya (1952 - 1972), University of Sri Lanka, Peradeniya Campus (1972 -1978), University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Peraden (Since 1978).

The University currently has nine faculties: Agriculture, Allied Health Sciences, Arts, Dental Sciences, Engineering, Management, Medicine, Science, and Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, as well as four postgraduate institutes: Postgraduate Institutes of Agriculture (PGIA), Humanities and Social Sciences (PGIHS), Science (PGIS), and Postgraduate School of Medicine (PGSM). They have around 8,500 postgraduate students and nearly 12,500 undergraduates (around 1150 in respective faculties and around 7350 in postgraduate institutes). It now has 21 student residential halls, with four more set to open at the end of the year, with the goal of providing 100 percent housing to undergraduates.

With a core library and seven satellite libraries, the University offers a well-equipped library network to assist teaching, learning, and research, with approximately 850,000 volumes and other reading materials.

Website: www.pdn.ac.lk

The National Institute of Fundamental Studies (NIFS) is a multidisciplinary government research institute in Sri Lanka that was founded in 1981. The NIFS is Sri Lanka's only institute dedicated only to undertaking research in natural and social sciences, as well as philosophy, for national growth and scientific improvement.

Under the auspices of six research departments, the NIFS conducts basic, high-quality research in 16 different theme areas. The NIFS research is also being carried out in response to pressing national issues in Sri Lanka.

Apart from conducting basic research, the NIFS promotes science, particularly among schoolchildren, trains postgraduate researchers in the country to minimize brain drain, and disseminates scientific knowledge to the general public.

NIFS was founded in September 1981 by Parliament Act No. 55, and on December 4, 1985, it relocated from Colombo to Kandy. President J. R. Jayewardena named Vidya Jyothi Professor Cyril Ponnamperuma as the director of the Institute of Fundamental Studies. He was essential in establishing the institute's permanent home in the Hanthana Hills, complete with a modern laboratory facility.

Act No. 25 of 2014 altered the institute's name to National Institute of Fundamental Studies (NIFS) Sri Lanka.

Website: www.nifs.ac.lk

The University of Colombo, Sri Lanka's oldest institution, is a huge structure spanning over fifty acres of valuable property in the city's centre. With its historical architecture, "College House" (the university's administrative centre) is today a well-known icon in the city.

The University of Colombo aspires for academic excellence in all areas of study, in keeping with its motto "Buddhih Sarvatra Bhrajate," which means "Wisdom bursts out everywhere." The University's Medical and Science Faculties are not only the oldest in Sri Lanka's university system, but they are also perhaps the best in terms of faculty and resources.

A wide range of extracurricular activities are available on campus to enrich student life. The magnificent playground and contemporary gymnasium provide athletes with the opportunity to fully utilize and develop their abilities. Meanwhile, the New Arts Theater is frequently used to showcase the student population's dramatic and musical abilities.

The University's location provides students with all of the benefits of a "metropolitan university," including quick access to international information/resource centers, libraries, theaters, sports facilities, and other amenities.

Today, the University of Colombo, which has a proud 115-year history, continues to strive to preserve its status as a "metropolitan university with a modern and international viewpoint and spirit."

Website: cmb.ac.lk

The University of Kelaniya has been at the forefront of a number of significant advancements in higher education. It was one of the first universities to teach science in Sinhala, as well as one of the first to split the old Arts Faculty into three distinct Faculties: Humanities, Social Sciences, and Commerce and Management.

It also boasts a number of unique departments not available elsewhere in Sri Lanka's university system, and several Kelaniya innovations have since been replicated by other institutions. In the Faculty of Science, there are departments of Industrial Management and Microbiology; in the Faculty of Humanities, there are departments of Linguistics, Fine Arts, Modern Languages, and Hindi; and in the Faculty of Social Sciences, there are departments of Mass Communication and Library and Information Sciences.

The University is a national center of distinction in Pali and Buddhist Studies, as well as allied subjects, in keeping with its historical roots. Pali and Buddhist Studies (with chairs in Buddhist Civilization and Buddhist Philosophy), Sanskrit, Linguistics, Philosophy, Sinhala, and Hindi, as well as the Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies, have long been established and well-developed. Kelaniya also has strong ties to Sri Lanka's Buddhist and Pali Universities (whose Vice-Chancellors have often been drawn from the University of Kelaniya Faculty).

As a result, the University of Kelaniya serves as the hub of an academic complex that focuses on new innovations in traditional fields. It also maintains a tight relationship with its parental institution, the Vidyalankara Pirivena, whose President also serves as the University's Chancellor.

Website: www.kln.ac.lk

The University of Sri Jayewardenepura is situated at Gangodawila, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka, about fifteen kilometers from Colombo. The University is dedicated to the pursuit and transfer of knowledge via teaching, scholarship, and research, as well as active community service, in an atmosphere that values creativity, intellectual freedom, equality, justice, and professional development.

The University's academic and administrative activities, as well as policy planning, are handled by the Official Boards established by the University Act. The Official Boards of the University are the Administrative Council, Senate, Faculty Boards, and Post-graduate Academic Boards.

The decisions of these Boards are carried out by the University's different officers.

Website: www.sjp.ac.lk

Sabaragamuwa University is a non-profit public higher education institution in Sabaragamuwa, Sri Lanka, that was founded in 1995. It is located in the suburbs of the huge town of Belihuloya (population range of 10,000-49,999), Sabaragamuwa.

Ratnapura is home to a branch campus of this university. Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka (SUSL) is a small (uniRank enrollment range: 2,000-2,999 students) coeducational Sri Lankan higher education institution that is officially accredited by the University Grants Commission of Sri Lanka.

Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka (SUSL) offers courses and programs leading to legally recognized higher education degrees in a variety of fields, including pre-bachelor degrees (i.e. certificates, diplomas, associate or foundation degrees), bachelor degrees, and master degrees.

Students can use SUSL's library, sports facilities, study abroad and exchange programs, online courses and distance learning options, and administrative services, among other academic and non-academic facilities and services.

Website: www.sab.ac.lk

The University Grants Commission in Sri Lanka has certified the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology as a premier institute.

It began in 1999, when 400 students were welcomed to the institute's Colombo Metro Campus. Over 9,000 students from all over the world now attend the university.

Through a blend of practical and theoretical study, the courses are designed to provide graduates with the skills they need to succeed in modern workplaces. Students can get industrial experience, improve their employability, and develop a better knowledge of the workplace through the university's industry internship programs, which partner with local and worldwide organizations.

The SLIIIT Academy, Matara Centre, Kandy Centre, Kurungala Centre, and Jaffna Centre are located on the Institute's two main campuses, Metro and Malabe.

Architecture, business, computers, engineering, graduate studies and research, hospitality and culinary studies, humanities and sciences, and law are among the Institute's eight faculties.

A gymnasium and a recreation center are available to students. Basketball, tennis, carom, karate, and volleyball are just a few of the sports groups available to students. Extracurricular societies such as gavel, rotaract, theater, student chapter, and engineering research and innovation are available to students.

Members of the community can also benefit from the Institute's professional development programs, which include workshops and short-term courses. Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, Project Management, and Cisco Networking are just a handful of the courses available.

Website: www.sliit.lk

The University of Moratuwa is divided into three faculties: Architecture, Engineering, and Information Technology, with nineteen academic departments offering eleven (11) bachelor's degree programs to students selected by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and 56 postgraduate programs, including MSc, Phil, and PhD research-based postgraduate degrees.

The University has 7687 undergraduate students and 1050 NDT Diploma students from the University of Moratuwa's Institute of Technology (ITUM). These students include 1517 undergraduate students enrolled in February 2014 and a second batch of 1609 students admitted in October 2014 from the 2013 A/L batch, allowing them to catch up with their peers despite severe space restrictions.

It should be noted that, over the previous ten years, the University has increased the yearly intake of students by over 75 percent overall and 200 percent in the IT Faculty to satisfy the growing demand for our degree programs and thereby cater to the nation's human resource development. In 2014, 1057 (90.7 percent) of 1166 students who took final exams received their first degrees within the minimal time frame required.

The number of degrees given in the 2014 General Convocation, including postgraduate degrees, was 1475, with 1131 Bachelor degrees and 344 postgraduate degrees. According to a 2014 Tracer survey on graduate employment patterns, 95.0 percent of all graduates, 97.10 percent of engineering graduates, and 100 percent of IT graduates were employed at the time of convocation, demonstrating that the University of Moratuwa's graduates are highly sought after by industry and employers in the noble task of developing the country.

Website: uom.lk

This university round out the list of best universities in Sri Lanka. The Rajarata University of Sri Lanka - RUSL (Sinhalese: රජරට විශ්වවිද්යාලයRUSL, Tamil: RUSLரஜரட்ட பல்கலைக்கழகம்) is a public university in the historic city of Mihintale, near Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. President Chandrika Kumaratunga inaugurated the Rajarata University of Sri Lanka on January 31, 1996, as the country's eleventh university.

The University has grown into a center of excellence in higher education in both the North Central Province and Sri Lanka throughout the years. Agriculture, Applied Sciences, Management Studies, Medicine and Allied Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities are the five faculties that provide academic programs at the RUSL. The Faculty of Applied Sciences, Management Studies, and Social Sciences and Humanities are all in Mihintale, while the Faculty of Agriculture and the Faculty of Medicine and Applied Sciences are in Puliyankulama and Saliyapura, respectively.

Website: www.rjt.ac.lk