Khulna University

Khulna University (KU) is a public university in Gollamari, Khulna, established in 1991. In 2023 it had 8,391 students and 517 teachers, 209 of them with a PhD.

Rankings

• THE World University Rankings 2027: band 1401-1600, national position 17 (the previous edition listed 1201-1500).
• QS Asia University Rankings 2026: position 454, national position 13.
• THE Asia University Rankings 2026: band 601-800.
• Ulkaa Edu Rank 2027: position 17, computed from the published methodology.

Khulna University began its academic programme on 31 August 1991 with 80 students in four disciplines: Computer Science and Engineering, Architecture, Business Administration, and Urban and Rural Planning.

Since then it has grown into eight schools. Student numbers rose from 5,511 in 2021 to 6,674 in 2022 and 8,391 in 2023.

The Kudrat-e-Khuda Commission first raised the case for a public university in Khulna Division in 1974. The government finalised the plan on 4 January 1987, President Hussain Muhammad Ershad laid the foundation stone on 9 March 1989, and the Khulna University Act was passed in 1990. Golam Rahman became the first vice-chancellor in 1991, and Prime Minister Khaleda Zia formally inaugurated the academic programme on 25 November 1991. Forestry and Wood Technology and Fisheries and Marine Resources Technology started the following year, and the first convocation was held on 10 April 1997.

Admission to the first year is competitive. In 2024 Ulkaa's data records 107,685 applicants for 1,109 seats, which is 97.1 applicants per seat. In 2023 the university admitted 2,562 first-year students.

The test format, unit structure and dates are set each year by the university. Read the current circular on ku.ac.bd before applying. This page does not list tuition or fee figures.

The university groups its disciplines into eight schools: Science, Engineering and Technology; Life Science; Management and Business Administration; Social Science; Arts and Humanities; Law; Fine Arts; and Education.

Ulkaa lists 20 programmes for the 2027 edition, among them:

• Computer Science and Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Architecture and Urban and Rural Planning
• Business Administration and Human Resource Management
• Pharmacy, Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Statistics
• Fisheries and Marine Resource Technology and Forestry and Wood Technology
• Economics, English, Law and History and Civilization

The 2026 accreditation registers hold two entries for KU: one from BAETE for Electronics and Communication Engineering and one from the Pharmacy Council of Bangladesh for the B.Pharm.

Wikipedia counts 29 disciplines under eight schools and one institute, taught in English. The Life Science school includes Agrotechnology, Environmental Science, and Soil, Water and Environment alongside the disciplines named above, and the Social Science school includes Development Studies, Sociology, and Mass Communication and Journalism.

OpenAlex records 4,804 works from Khulna University over the five years to 2025, with 38,019 citations in that window (7.91 per work) and an h-index of 151 as of 2026. About 45 percent of recent papers have an international co-author.

Life-science and technology disciplines, such as fisheries, forestry and biotechnology, are part of the course list, and the university provides GIS and remote sensing laboratories.

The campus stands on about 106 acres beside the Moyur river, on Sher E Bangla Road in Gollamari.

Five residential halls house students. Khan Jahan Ali Hall, Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah Hall and Birsherestho Muhammad Ruhul Amin Hall are for men, while Aparajita Hall and Bijoy 24 Hall are for women. The Kazi Nazrul Islam Central Library holds about 25,000 volumes, and several disciplines run specialised labs, including GIS, remote sensing and digital electronics. Clubs and events are listed on the official website.