Top Universities in Sri Lanka 2023-2024

We’ve compiled a list of the top (best) universities in Sri Lanka for 2023-2024. You can explore their rankings based on three well-known World University Ranking Lists: Webometrics, QS Higher Education Ranking, and THE Higher Education World Ranking. Webometrics and THE ranking lists both state and private universities in Sri Lanka.

1. Webometrics World University Ranking (2023 July)

https://www.webometrics.info/en/Asia/Sri%20Lanka%20

Country Rank	World Rank	University	Impact Rank*	Openness Rank*	Excellence Rank*
1	1487	University of Colombo	1933	1193	2033
2	1978	University of Peradeniya	4397	1185	2115
3	2043	University of Sri Jayewardenepura	3383	1588	2497
4	2534	University of Ruhuna	6935	2039	2204
5	2553	University of Moratuwa	5824	1990	2543
6	2973	Rajarata University	4742	2897	3483
7	3001	University of Kelaniya	5611	1618	3549
8	3666	University of Jaffna	7728	2364	3884
9	4249	Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka	10099	2948	4229
10	4442	Wayamba University of Sri Lanka	11061	3219	4349
11	4907	Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology	7480	8183	4274
12	5206	Eastern University of Sri Lanka	12242	8183	3831
13	5617	Open University of Sri Lanka	6498	2971	6598
14	7285	General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University	8770	3414	7237
15	7604	Uva Wellassa University	9512	3537	7237
16	7761	South Eastern University of Sri Lanka	9776	3649	7237
17	8498	Sri Lanka Technological Campus	8884	5987	7237
18	10011	Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education	10012	7143	7237
19	10753	NSBM Green University	11861	6841	7237
20	12215	Informatics Institute of Technology Sri Lanka	12565	7526	7237
21	12800	National Institute of Education Sri Lanka	10581	8183	7237
22	13114	CINEC Campus	13339	7670	7237
23	13378	National Institute of Fundamental Studies Sri Lanka	18289	4792	7237
24	14493	Industrial Technology Institute	17739	6408	7237
25	14633	National Institute of Business Management	12886	8183	7237
26	15224	ESOFT Metro Campus	13612	8183	7237
27	15582	International Institute of Health Sciences	14038	8183	7237
28	16475	University of the Visual & Performing Arts	15099	8183	7237
29	17050	Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology Sri Lanka	15778	8183	7237
30	17293	Horizon Campus	16080	8183	7237
31	17609	Australian College of Business and Technology	16433	8183	7237
32	17768	SLIIT Academy	16628	8183	7237
33	17841	Ocean University of Sri Lanka	19493	7551	7237
34	17938	ANC Education	16822	8183	7237
35	18151	Saegis Campus	17077	8183	7237
36	18560	University of Vocational Technology Ratmalana	17566	8183	7237
37	18777	Arthur C Clarke Institute of Modern Technologies	17803	8183	7237
38	19515	Buddhist & Pali University of Sri Lanka	18624	8183	7237
39	20482	Sri Lanka Institute of Architects	19763	8183	7237
40	20545	Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration Colombo	19830	8183	7237
41	20934	Royal Institute of Colombo	20267	8183	7237
42	20952	American College of Higher Education	20287	8183	7237
43	21148	Sri Lanka Press Institute	20504	8183	7237
44	21215	IDM University	20585	8183	7237
45	21462	BMS Business Management School	20856	8183	7237
46	22581	Aquinas College of Higher Studies Colombo	22113	8183	7237
47	22739	Institute of Engineering Technology	22301	8183	7237
48	22833	Kaatsu International University Sri Lanka	22395	8183	7237
49	22936	National Institute of Social Development	22515	8183	7237
50	23040	Imperial Institute of Higher Education	22634	8183	7237
51	23186	Bhiksu University of Sri Lanka	22773	8183	7237
52	23259	IDM Nations Campus	22856	8183	7237
53	23576	Nawaloka College of Higher Studies	23194	8183	7237
54	23647	Sri Lanka International Buddhist Academy SIBA	23279	8183	7237
55	25628	Northshore College	25421	8183	7237
56	26725	(1) Nagananda International Institute for Buddhist Studies	26587	8183	7237
57	27440	(3) Postgraduate Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences University of Peradeniya	27329	8183	7237
58	29047	IUHS Campus	28992	8183	7237
59	29300	IESL College of Engineering	29250	8183

Webometrics 2023 July – Sri Lankan Universities

Webometrics Methodology

The Impact Rank, Openness Rank, and Excellence Rank are three of the four indicators used to calculate the Webometrics University Ranking.

Impact Rank: This indicator is based on the number of external links to the university’s website.
Openness Rank: This indicator is based on the number of scholarly articles published by the university’s faculty and staff that are indexed in Google Scholar.
Excellence Rank: This indicator is based on the number of highly cited scholarly articles published by the university’s faculty and staff. Data extracted from scimago, which uses Scopus data.

2023-2024 ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ හොදම විශ්ව විද්‍යාල Top Sri Lankan universities- THE, QS, Webometrics ranking

2. QS Asia University Rankings 2023

Only three Sri Lankan universities, X, Y, and Z, are listed in the QS Asia 2023 ranking.

https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/asia-university-rankings/2023

Rank	University
301-350	University of Colombo
351-400	University of Peradeniya
401-450	University of Sri Jayawardenapura

QS Asia 2023 University Ranking of Sri Lankan Universities

QS Asia University Ranking Methodology

QS Asia ranking is based on five performance indicators:

teaching (the learning environment);
research (volume, income and reputation);
citations (research influence);
International outlook (staff, students and research); and
Industry income (knowledge transfer).

3. THE Times Higher Education Ranking 2024

Only 6 universities have been ranked in the THE World University Rankings 2024 released yesterday (27 September 2023). The University of Colombo and the University of Peradeniya got first place in Sri Lanka, while the University of Kelaniya and the University of Sri Jayewardenepura are placed in third place, and General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University and Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology are ranked in reporter status.