University of Rajshahi

The University of Rajshahi (RU) is a public university in Rajshahi, in the north-west of Bangladesh. It was established in 1953 and is among the oldest and largest universities in the country. Its campus is in Motihar, on the eastern side of the city, about a mile from the Padma River.

Rankings

• Ulkaa Edu Rank 2027: 15th overall (score 75.5). This position is computed from the published methodology. In the same edition RU is 13th among public universities.
• QS World University Rankings 2027: band 1401+ (previous editions: 1201-1400 in 2026 and in 2025).
• THE World University Rankings 2027: band 1001-1200.
• QS Asia University Rankings 2026: rank 312 (320 in 2025).
• THE Asia University Rankings 2026: band 501-600.
• Webometrics 2024: world rank 1283.

The Rajshahi University Act was passed on 31 March 1953 by the East Pakistan Provincial Assembly. That made it the second university in what is now Bangladesh, after the University of Dhaka. Itrat Husain Zuberi was its first Vice-Chancellor.

The campus covers about 305 hectares (753 acres) in Motihar, on the east side of Rajshahi city. It also houses the Varendra Research Museum, founded in 1910, which holds archaeological and historical collections from the Varendra region and is described by Wikipedia as the oldest museum in the country.

Today the university teaches law, engineering, agriculture and fisheries alongside the humanities and sciences, and Wikipedia counts more than 25,000 students.

RU runs its own admission test, organised in units. For the 2025-26 session the circular described three: C for science, engineering and agriculture subjects, A for humanities, arts and law, and B for business studies. Tests took place in January 2026, and the university has used both multiple-choice and written formats, so read the current circular for the exact format.

For Units A and B, applicants needed a total GPA of at least 7.00 across SSC and HSC, with at least 3.00 in each. In Unit A the test carried 100 marks across Bangla, English and general knowledge. Unit B covered Bangla, English, Business Organisation and Management, and Accounting.

Demand is very high. The Ulkaa data records 272,625 applicants in 2025, and 4,335 first-year admissions in 2023. The two numbers come from different years and are not a seat ratio. Eligibility and dates change each year.

According to Wikipedia, RU has 12 faculties and 59 departments: Arts, Engineering, Fine Arts, Law, Science, Business Studies, Social Sciences, Life Sciences, Earth Sciences, Agriculture, Fisheries, and Veterinary and Animal Sciences. Six institutes work alongside them, including Bangladesh Studies, Biological Science, Business Administration, and Education and Research.

The Ulkaa programme table lists 27 programmes from the university's department pages:

• Business: Accounting and Information Systems, Banking and Insurance, Finance, Management Studies, Marketing, Tourism and Hospitality Management, and Information Science and Library Management.
• Science and technology: Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Statistics and Data Science, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Physics, Microbiology, Pharmacy, and Agronomy and Agricultural Extension.
• Humanities and social sciences: Economics, English, Bangla, Arabic, History, Islamic History and Culture, Islamic Studies, and Philosophy.
• Law: Law, and Law and Land Administration.

One programme appears in the Pharmacy Council of Bangladesh accreditation register (2026 count). RU is 12th in business subjects, 13th in computer science and 14th in engineering in the Ulkaa 2027 edition.

RU has the largest research output among the five universities profiled in this batch. OpenAlex lists 7,072 works linked to the university over the five years to 2025, with 69,955 citations and 9.89 citations per work. The 2026 h-index is 186.

Yearly output was 1,316 works in 2021, 1,273 in 2022, 1,495 in 2023, 1,521 in 2024 and 1,467 in 2025. In 2025 the largest subject counts were medicine (789 works), engineering (515), business (333) and computer science (257). About 32% of 2025 works had an international co-author.

The Varendra Research Museum and six institutes are further research units on campus. These counts come from one open index and cover journal output only.

RU is a residential campus. Wikipedia lists 18 halls that together house more than 10,000 students, and notes that demand for rooms exceeds supply. The campus also has a 30,000-seat stadium, a swimming pool, gymnasiums and a Central Library.

With 21,021 students and 1,011 teachers in 2023 according to the Ulkaa data, the campus is large and spans very different departments. Check the university's website for current hall rules, seat allotment and student clubs before you apply.