Over the years, the university has developed to become a centre of excellence in higher education in the North Central Province as well as in Sri Lanka.

The official opening ceremony was attended by Prime MinisterSirimavo Bandaranayake, Speaker Kiri Banda Ratnayake, Minister of Higher Education Richard Pathirana, Deputy Minister of Higher Education Wiswa Warnapala, Governor NCP Maithripala Senanayake, Chairman UGC Prof. Stanley Thilakaratne, the university's first vice chancellor Prof. W.I.

Having examined the social variables encountered by Sri Lanka in the two decades 1970 and 1980, the then government decided to establish affiliated university colleges to provide opportunities for higher education for youth who are qualified but deprived of university education.

The Central Province Affiliated University College (CPAUC) in Polgolla, located 140 km from the main campus at Mihinthale, Anuradhapura was amalgamated to the RUSL as its Faculty of Applied Sciences (FASc).

The immediate task of the FASc was to upgrade all the students of the CPAUC who had successfully completed their diploma requirements, to the graduate level.

On this task the FASc was inaugurated on 10 January 1997 to commence the third-year degree programme with a batch of 102 students, who graduated in 1998.

After functioning for nearly 10 years at Polgolla, the faculty was established in the main campus at Mihinthale, on 16 January 2006 upon completion of Stage I of the building complex.

Later in 1999, a committee was appointed to make recommendations to upgrade the Wayamba Campus to a fully-fledged university.

It was started at a renovated paddy store complex where the faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities was located earlier.

This faculty was established in response to a critical situation arising from an error in the grading of the advanced level (A/L) examination chemistry paper.

This error led to an additional 120 students becoming eligible for enrollment in Sri Lankan public medical schools.

Despite the commencement of these programmers under FASc, a separate Faculty of Technology is to be established in due course which includes five departments and accommodating an estimated intake of 245 students annually.

The Main Library of Rajarata University is located in the Mihintale Premises and houses an extensive collection of books, journals, and other academic resources.