The university system consisted of six campuses at Colombo, Peradeniya, Sri Jayewardenepura, Kelaniya, Moratuwa, and Jaffna.
[6] By the mid-1960s there were calls for the creation of a separate, independent university based at the Colombo campus.
Under the provisions of the Higher Education Act the University of Ceylon, Colombo was established with effect from 1 October 1967.
[8] At the same time the Ceylon College of Technology at Katubedda became the fifth campus of the university.
16 of 1978 radically altered university education in Sri Lanka.