Let’s take a look at what international students can expect when they decide to study in Sri Lanka. What universities are available to send admission applications to, along with what is the expect cost of living for full-time and part-time students. From work-study programs to finding the right undergraduate program to pursue, Sri Lanka has an array of opportunities available for any interested foreign student. Check out what languages should be learned beforehand to make navigation around Sri Lanka easier for international students.
Universities in Sri Lanka:
- University of Colombo
- University of Peradeniya
- University of Moratuwa
- University of Sri Jayewardenepura
- University Of Kelaniya
- Eastern University, Sri Lanka
- University of Ruhuna
- University of Jaffna
- South Eastern University of Sri Lanka
- Wayamba University
- Rajarata University
- Sabaragamuwa University
- Buddhist and Pali University
- Buddhasravaka Bhiksu University
- Uva Wellassa University
- Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology
- The National Institute of Business Management
- General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University
- Ocean University
- Horizon Campus
- Colombo International Nautical and Engineering College
- Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education
- Sri Lanka Technological Campus
- University of Vavuniya
- Gampaha Wickramarachchi University of Indigenous Medicine
- Open University
- Informatics Institute of Technology
- Institute of Engineering Technology
This is not a complete list of all of the available universities to apply to.
Cost of Student Living
The average cost for a single student looking to live in a one-bedroom apartment in or near a city center would come to about $240 USD. However, prices will vary from city to city. The further out a student lives the less they will spend on rent, but the more they will spend on transportation.
Relatively food, internet, utilities, and daily necessities are on the cheaper end of things, than some other places. This allows students to become full-time students if they already have some saving set aside to live in Sri Lanka.
Tuition Costs
When it comes to tuition cost, costs will vary depending on the subject being pursued and what type of public or private university the student is attending. On general terms, students can expect to spend $3,000 to roughly $5,500 on a single academic year.
A handful of the cheaper universities in Sri Lanka are:
- University of Peradeniya
- University of Colombo
- University of Moratuwa
- University of Sri Jayewardenepura
Tuition averages out to between $3,000 up to $12,000 USD for students at the above cheaper college institutions.
Languages Spoken in Sri Lanka
What is the main language spoken in Sri Lanka? Actually, there are two native languages that are used regularly which are Tamil and Sinhala. Learning one of these languages would highly benefit a student who is not from Sri Lanka. Instead, they would be able to navigate the country a lot better and have more confidence in exploring the country if they know or become fluent in Tamil or Sinhala.
There is Modern-Sinhalese which was borrows from a number of other languages such as Dutch, Portuguese, English, and Tamil. So, there may be phrases that sound more Dutch, English, Portuguese, or Tamil which can allow international students to gain the upper hand on learning a new language.
