The history of higher education in Sri Lanka is closely linked to the history of the University of Colombo. In 1870 the Ceylon Medical College, from whi ch the present Medi cal Facul ty has developed was established. University College was established for higher education in Arts and Science in 1921. It was then affiliated to the University of London, and was housed in College House, which is the central administrative building of the University today. The University of Colombo became an autonomous university in 1978. It is a legacy of higher education in Sri Lanka, and all undergraduates entering the University of Colombo would be proud. Over the last several decades, the University of Colombo has expanded substantially in terms of academic programmes, student enrolment and facilities. It is one of the largest Universities in the country with nine faculties and several affiliated institutes and centres of learning.Owing to its location in the metropolitan centre, the University of Colombo has the advantage of being at the hub of cultural, economic and socio-political activity of the country. It offers library facilities, research centres, professional associations, theatres, art galleries, cinema halls etc., which can be used by the students for their own academic and personal enrichment.

For more details: http://www.cmb.ac.lk/

The Faculty of Management and Finance is one of the fastest growing faculties of the University of Colombo which was established in May 1994. Historical development of this faculty dates back to 1979 when the Department of Commerce and Management Studies of the University of Colombo was established as a department which operated under the Faculty of Arts, the Department of Commerce and Management Studies grew rapidly in 1980s and thereby became the department which accommodated the highest number of undergraduates in the Faculty of Arts.

In line with the increasing student population and the rapidly growing needs of Sri Lankan business community, the necessity for establishing a new faculty for this particular field of study began to be felt in the late 1980s. As an initial step of expediting the process of establishing the new faculty, two academic departments, namely the Department of Commerce and the Department of Management Studies, were formed in 1993 under the purview of the Faculty of Arts. Finally, the long-lived dream of all interested parties materialised in May 1994 with the inauguration of the Faculty of Management and Finance. Since then the undergraduate population of the faculty has rapidly grown.

The Faculty of Management and Finance is committed to pursuing excellence in research, teaching, community services, and university-industry cooperation and collaboration, whilst making all efforts to be the centre of excellence for management and finance education in Sri Lanka. Living up to this commitment of national and international significance, the Faculty of Management and Finance embarked on planning for a major re-structuring program in late 1990s. The basic thrust of this strategic initiative was to incorporate disciplinary rigor, business practicality and skill development into the curriculum, thus exploring the avenues for building mutually beneficial and collaborative links between the Faculty and the industry.

In its historical evolution, the Faculty of Management and Finance reached yet another juncture in May 2007. Putting the re-structuring plan into practice, two academic departments which were in existence for many years were abolished and six new academic departments were established, such as:

• Department of Accounting
• Department of Business Economics
• Department of Finance
• Department of Human Resources Management
• Department of International Business
• Department of Management and Organization Studies
• Department of Marketing.

This intra-faculty institutional development has provided its undergraduates with the opportunity and resources for specializing in different fields of  study including Accounting, Business Economics, Finance, Human Resources Management and Marketing. Alternatively, undergraduates can opt to read for a degree program which draws upon knowledge from all these specializations/disciplines and aims at covering a broader perspective of  business administration. To incorporate current trends in the corporate sector the faculty introduced three new academic programmes, namely BBA in International Business, BBA in Management and Organization Studies and BBA in Hospitality and Leisure Management in 2009 and 2015 respectively. In line with this changes the Department of  International Business was established in 2014. The faculty has taken all these initiatives with a view to producing employable graduates aligned with the needs of  the business world.

For more details: http://www.mgmt.cmb.ac.lk/