[3] It is the only university in the southern region of Sri Lanka (also referred to as the Kingdom of Ruhuna).

The university is organized into ten faculties throughout the southern province of Sri Lanka.

As a result, on 27 August 1978, the Prime Minister J. R. Jayawardene declared open the Ruhuna University College at Meddawatta, Matara, with Prof. Mervyn W. Thenabadu as its .

[citation needed] During the past 25 years, it has witnessed considerable progress and development in the academic, research and outreach spheres with substantial improvement in intellectual and infrastructure resources and has emerged as a leader of higher education in Sri Lanka.

The appointment is made by the president of Sri Lanka, to a distinguished person in academics, clergy, or civil society.

[18] Day-to-day management of the university is undertaken by the vice-chancellor, appointed by the president of Sri Lanka.

If this place doesn't turn students into civilized beings, nothing will!A new building complex for the university was designed by the world-renowned architect Geoffrey Bawa[21] and was constructed at Wellamadama with a unique architectural landscape.

[22] The 30-hectare site straddled three steep hills, the westernmost overlooking the sea and separated from the other two by a low-lying valley that carried the main road from Matara to Hambantota.

Bawa placed the vice-chancellor's lodge and a guest house on the western hill and flooded the intervening valley to create a buffer between the road and the main campus.

The buildings as they are conceived are influenced by the "character of the natural terrain, the vegetation, the potential for developing vistas out into the landscape and hence light and shade and of course the related and ever-present aspect of climate".

The faculties of Engineering and Medicine are at Hapugala and Karapitiya, about 5 km from Galle city center.

It is a legal deposit library, therefore it is entitled to request a free copy of every book published in Sri Lanka.

[citation needed] Each year ten financially disadvantaged students from the Civil and Environmental Engineering program are entitled to a special scholarship sponsored by Ceylon Steel Corporation[39]