Colombo, Nov. 4 (Daily Mirror) - Sri Lanka's leading universities slid to their lowest positions in four years in the QS World University Rankings: Asia 2027, with the University of Colombo dropping 46 places to 364th, as regional rivals moved ahead while its own score barely changed, QS told Mirror Business.
Colombo nonetheless remained Sri Lanka's highest-ranked university for a fifth consecutive year, followed by the University of Peradeniya at 389th and the University of Sri Jayewardenepura at 398th. While the trio kept the country's presence in the top 400 at three for a fourth straight edition, each recorded its lowest placing over that period, with Colombo now 89 places below the 275th position it held in 2025.
Overall, eight of Sri Lanka's 12 ranked universities declined this year, two improved and two held steady, leaving a net decline of 50 percent, as per data from London-based higher education analytics firm QS Quacquarelli Symonds. The University of Moratuwa was the strongest local performer, climbing 37 places to 517th, while the University of Kelaniya advanced from the 731-740 band to 687th, a gain of at least 44 places.
QS Senior Vice President Ben Sowter credited Sri Lanka with holding its ground at the upper end of an expanded field.
"In a year when almost 200 universities have debuted in the rankings, Sri Lanka does well to maintain three universities among the top 400," he said.
However, QS told Mirror Business that the 195 newcomers were not the main reason for the slide. Only two debutants were placed above Colombo or Sri Jayewardenepura, it pointed out, and they accounted for about two places of each university's fall.
"For these two institutions in particular, it is more a question of rivals moving ahead," QS noted.
Colombo's overall score slipped only marginally from 39.4 to 39.0 and Sri Jayewardenepura's from 37.8 to 37.5, the QS data showed. A typical entry improved by about 1.7 points, leaving both universities roughly two points behind the pace set by their peers. QS also offered percentiles as another way of reading the results in a field that has expanded by about three-quarters since 2025 to 1,722 institutions. On that measure, Colombo outperformed 78.9 percent of ranked universities this year, broadly in line with 79.1 percent last year and well ahead of the 71.9 percent it recorded in 2025, making 2027 its second-best showing, according to QS.
Employer Reputation, which carries a 20 percent weighting, was the main drag on the two universities, with Colombo's score in the indicator falling 2.8 points and Sri Jayewardenepura's 4.3 points even as most universities improved slightly. At 192nd, Colombo is now the only Sri Lankan university in Asia's top 200 for employer reputation, compared with five in 2022. QS read this as a sign that regional peers were building and maintaining links with employers at a faster pace.
"Sri Lankan institutions need to do more to build their reputation among industry stakeholders globally," it added.
However, the average Employer Reputation score of Sri Lankan entries rose 3.3 points to 35.5, more than six times the regional gain of 0.5 points to 24.8. All nine universities outside the top three improved their scores, and four of them also climbed in rank. QS observed that this pointed to employers in the region rating Sri Lankan graduates more highly than a year earlier, while Colombo's 192nd place still keeps it within the top 12 percent in Asia for the indicator.
Every Sri Lankan entry fell in rank in Faculty Student Ratio and Staff with PhD, although QS indicated that the underlying data showed no sign of a shrinking academic workforce, with staff numbers generally flat or growing. Instead, it found that some universities had seen student numbers rise while faculty numbers fell. Colombo's student numbers grew 6 percent this year while its faculty count fell 3 percent, implying roughly 9 percent more students per academic. Jaffna's Faculty Student Ratio score dropped about 24 percent from 28.5 to 21.8, largely due to a significant rise in student numbers.
In Staff with PhDs, the seven local universities with data improved their scores but still lost ground in rank, while Rajarata, Sabaragamuwa, South Eastern, Ruhuna and Wayamba had no data in either year. Sri Lanka also fared worse than its South Asian neighbours in Faculty Student Ratio, where every local entry declined compared with 85 percent in Bangladesh, 83 percent in Pakistan and 81 percent in India, as per QS data. Its 100 percent decline rate in Staff with PhD matched Bangladesh and was well above India's 69 percent.
Academic Reputation, the most heavily weighted indicator at 30 percent, was the only area where Sri Lanka gained ground on peers, with half its entries rising and its average score of 24.8 about 11 percent ahead of the regional average of 22.3.
Peradeniya, at 274th in International Research Network, was the only Sri Lankan entry inside the top 300 across the five global engagement indicators. Local average scores for international faculty (1.8) and international students (3.7) were barely one-eighteenth and one-eighth of the respective regional averages of 33.3 and 29.3.
Citing Malaysia, which aims to attract 250,000 international students by 2030, QS explained that systems which had internationalised successfully had built reciprocal, long-term partnerships, leant into their historic strengths in subjects or research, and benefited from supportive government policy. It further suggested that transnational education, through joint programmes or flying faculty links, offered Sri Lankan universities an opportunity to strengthen their international ties.
Sowter cautioned that the overall picture remained one of decline relative to regional peers.
"Key to improvement in the future will be a renewed commitment to the learning experience and outcomes for students, new investments in faculty and research and further building research and exchange partnerships globally," he added.
Meanwhile, the University of Hong Kong retained first place in Asia for a second year. Closer to home, India's IIT Delhi at 66th, Pakistan's NUST Islamabad at 76th and Bangladesh's University of Dhaka at 136th all ranked well ahead of Colombo. The Maldives entered the rankings for the first time.
Bandara Gamage Wednesday, 04 November 2026 01:34 PM
BuffaloaCitizen Wednesday, 04 November 2026 01:47 PM
Sri Lanka Universities are nothing much. Proof of that is the quality of our Professionals. Take CEB where most of our National Engineers work. If they are so Professional why are they taking bribes in every activity of their work? Take Doctors, all of them are involved in Private Practice while working at National Hospitals. Their priority is Private Practice and getting patients to channel them through private practice. Did we provide them free education for this purpose?
Lanka Wednesday, 04 November 2026 03:12 PM
All universities will be replaced with AI model universities and all humanities subjects will be replaced with AI teaching: next generation universities will be digital and virtual and we may not need huge buildings: shops are disappearing and universities too: Now get your ranking and AI will replace all this
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