25 universities without campuses, makeshift teaching in rented facilities

A narrow, uneven road. Not even enough space for vehicles to move properly. When local residents were asked where the university was, they pointed farther ahead. After walking for a while, one person pointed to a building and said, “That’s the university.”

From the outside, there is no way to tell that the three-storey building, which is still under construction, is a university. The building looks much like an ordinary residential house in the neighbourhood. Yet it houses the academic activities of three technology-focused departments—Cyber Security Engineering, Data Science and Engineering, and Software Engineering.

This rented temporary campus in Kaliakair, Gazipur, is where the University of Frontier Technology (UFTB) conducts its academic activities. Another rented building about 1.5 kilometres away is also used for teaching, while administrative work is carried out in yet another rented building located in between.

A specialised university focused on technology is thus operating out of three small buildings, with infrastructure comparable to, or even less than, that of an ordinary school.

UFTB is not the only university in this situation. In all, 25 public universities in the country do not have their own permanent campuses. Five of them have yet to begin academic activities.

However, the process of starting classes in makeshift arrangements is under way after vice-chancellors have been appointed. The remaining universities already have students, and teachers, officers and staff have also been recruited. But they still do not have permanent campuses of their own.

According to UGC sources, 24 of these 25 universities were approved by the previous Awami League government between 2013 and 2023. Dhaka Central University, established for the seven colleges in Dhaka, was approved in 2025 during the tenure of the interim government.

Some of these universities are operating from buildings belonging to other educational institutions, some from rented buildings, and others from temporary facilities spread across multiple locations. In some cases, land has been designated for permanent campuses, but construction has yet to be completed. In others, even the process of acquiring land has not begun.

As a result, years after their establishment, students are still not getting a full-fledged university environment. Education-sector experts believe that because academic activities were launched without ensuring even the minimum necessary facilities, most of these universities are effectively providing education under makeshift conditions.

This situation did not arise overnight. It has continued for years. Laws are passed to establish new universities, vice-chancellors are appointed, and academic activities are launched.

No permanent campuses

Among the universities without permanent campuses are six science and technology universities: Jamalpur University of Science and Technology, Chandpur University of Science and Technology, Sunamganj Science and Technology University, Pirojpur University of Science and Technology, Lakshmipur University of Science and Technology, and Narayanganj University of Science and Technology.

There are three agricultural universities: Khulna Agricultural University, Habiganj Agricultural University and Kurigram Agricultural University.

There are four medical universities: Chattogram Medical University, Rajshahi Medical University, Sylhet Medical University and Khulna Medical University.

The other specialised and general universities are Netrokona University, Islamic Arabic University, Rabindra University, University of Frontier Technology, Aviation and Aerospace University, Bangladesh Maritime University, Kishoreganj University, Meherpur University, Naogaon University, Bogura University, Dhaka Central University and Thakurgaon University.

Most of these universities began academic activities between the 2014–15 and 2023–24 academic years. They operate with between two and seven departments, although a few have more. Islamic Arabic University, Dhaka Central University, Chattogram Medical University, Rajshahi Medical University, Sylhet Medical University and Khulna Medical University do not directly teach students at the undergraduate level.

Many madrasah, college and medical educational institutions operate under their supervision. The remaining 14 universities that have started academic activities have a combined enrolment of just over 8,000 students.

Five universities are now in the process of starting academic activities after vice-chancellors were appointed. They are Meherpur University, Bogura University, Thakurgaon University, Lakshmipur University of Science and Technology, and Narayanganj University of Science and Technology.

Naogaon University received approval to open departments in December 2025. Students have already been admitted to those two departments for the 2025–26 academic year. Dhaka Central University has also recently begun operating under temporary arrangements.

Not having their own campuses is costing these universities large amounts of money in rent. Khulna Agricultural University, for example, spends around Tk 821,000 a month on rent, excluding VAT and taxes.

Asked about the matter, UGC Chairman Professor Mamun Ahmed told Prothom Alo that the universities without their own campuses had been approved long before he took office, and almost all of them had already begun academic activities. They are now trying to bring these universities under proper rules and regulations as quickly as possible and ensure the minimum necessary facilities, he said.

Who is making progress, and how much?

According to UGC sources, some of the universities have undertaken feasibility study projects for the construction of their own campuses. In some cases, the studies have already been completed. Construction work is under way at several others.

An official of Khulna Agricultural University told Prothom Alo that land has yet to be acquired. The process of establishing a permanent campus is under way through land acquisition and the restructuring of the Development Project Proposal (DPP). A DPP for the acquisition of about 250 acres of land was placed before the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC).

However, instead of approving it, ECNEC made some observations. A permanent campus is now being planned in the Daulatpur and Khalishpur areas near the temporary campus. The Khulna Agricultural University Act was passed on 5 July, 2015. Its institutional journey began in 2018 with the appointment of its first vice-chancellor.

Netrokona University was established in 2018 and began academic activities in the 2018–19 academic year. A permanent campus is being built on 500 acres of land in the Rajurbazar area of Netrokona. All administrative activities are still being conducted at the temporary campus.

Academic activities of two departments are also continuing there, while the other departments have recently been moved to the permanent campus. The university has around 1,000 students across 10 departments under four faculties.

Academic activities launched in makeshift arrangements

Conversations with UGC officials and education-sector experts indicate that universities are being allowed to begin academic activities without first ensuring even the minimum necessary facilities. Efforts to open new departments then begin soon afterward.

The Sunamganj Science and Technology University (SSTU) Act was passed in November 2020. About a year and a half later, in June 2022, a vice-chancellor was appointed. Academic activities subsequently began in the 2023–24 academic year, in November 2024, from a temporary campus. From the outset, the university has been operating from various rented buildings scattered across Shantiganj upazila. The area, about 17 kilometres from the town, has various transportation and accommodation difficulties.

SSTU is supposed to be located “on the eastern side of the Ahsanmara Bridge, beside Dekhar Haor.” But more than five years after the university was established, there is still no sign of a permanent campus there.

Students have staged class boycotts, protests and various other programmes demanding a permanent campus. The university currently operates with four subjects—Computer Science and Engineering, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics. It has 480 students, 15 teachers, and 24 officers and staff.

During a visit on 30 August, the site where SUBT’s permanent campus is supposed to be built, on the eastern side of the Ahsanmara Bridge beside Dekhar Haor, was found to be submerged in water. There were paddy fields and a scattering of houses. After walking a short distance, a signboard could be seen on the right side of the road reading, “Sunamganj University of Science and Technology, Shantiganj, Temporary Guest Building.” The three-storey building houses the VC, pro-VC and several teachers and officials.

A little farther along the road, past the Jaykalas Uzanigaon intersection, another signboard marks the university’s temporary administrative building on the southern side. The vice-chancellor’s office has been set up by renting part of the second floor of a house beside the road.

Past Shantiganj Bazar on the right is Jameya Haji Akram Ali Dakhil Madrasa. Classes in two subjects are held on the second through fourth floors of its four-storey building.

Across the road, a small two-storey building belonging to Abdul Majid College houses Academic Building-2 (Laboratory). Farther west, classes in the other two subjects are held on the fourth floor of the academic building of Sunamganj Textile Institute.

Two buildings have been rented along the road leading from Shantiganj Bazar to Dungriya village to provide accommodation for students. One houses male students and the other female students, with capacities of 100 and 70 respectively.

One student said, “Classes are held in different buildings in different places. There are not enough facilities for teachers and students to live. Wherever it may be, we need a permanent campus as soon as possible.”

Professor Md Zakir Hossain joined as vice-chancellor on 28 July. He said that as a new university, it faces many difficulties and limitations. However, an institution of higher education like this is very important in a place such as Sunamganj.

3 rented buildings scattered across the area

Like Sunamganj University of Science and Technology, the specialised technology university University of Frontier Technology, Bangladesh (UFTB) is also operating on a temporary basis in Kaliakair, Gazipur because it does not have a permanent campus. During a visit on 30 August, it was found that the university’s academic activities were spread across three rented buildings.

Academic Building-2 is difficult to reach even by rickshaw, let alone other vehicles. Three departments conduct their academic activities in the three-storey building, which is still under construction.

From the outside, it looks much like an ordinary residential building in the surrounding area. When reporters went inside and asked to speak to teachers, a security guard said none of the teachers were there; the students had gone outside to watch a game. A few students were, however, present.

Students who come to study from various areas, including Feni and Narayanganj, said classes are held, but the lack of a permanent campus creates various problems. There is no generator in the building, so power outages cause difficulties.

The administrative building is a short distance from Academic Building-2. After travelling quite a bit farther by autorickshaw comes Academic Building-1. The fare was around Tk 20. This five-storey building is somewhat better than Academic Building-2, but neither provides a complete university environment. Talking to students, reporters repeatedly heard expressions of frustration over the lack of a permanent campus.

The UFTB Act was passed in July 2016. Academic activities began in June 2018 after the appointment of a vice-chancellor. The university has changed its name twice since then. Four vice-chancellors have been appointed so far. Two did not complete their terms, one completed a full term, and another recently took charge. Yet eight years after its establishment, the university has still been unable to move to its own campus.

The specialised university currently has 928 students in five departments under four faculties. It has 41 teachers, all of them lecturers or assistant professors; there are no associate professors or professors.

In addition, there are 36 officers and 52 employees. Two batches have already completed their studies and graduated.

In the words of a student of the Internet of Things and Robotics Engineering department, not even 5 per cent of the vision and mission with which the university began its journey has yet been fulfilled.

After touring Academic Building-1, reporters spoke to university Registrar Muhammad Ataur Rahman Khan at the administrative building. He also highlighted the problems caused by the lack of a permanent campus. However, he said 50 acres of land had been designated nearby for the university.

A Development Project Proposal (DPP) involving more than Tk 8 billion for academic and administrative buildings, land acquisition costs and a boundary wall is currently under process.

Allegations of recruitment irregularities

Education-sector experts have also questioned the practice of recruiting teachers, officers and staff and admitting students even when universities lack adequate infrastructure before starting academic activities.

For example, efforts are under way to launch academic activities in makeshift arrangements at Meherpur University, Bogura University, Thakurgaon University, Lakshmipur University of Science and Technology and Narayanganj University of Science and Technology, all of which were approved several years ago. Some of these universities have applied to the UGC for approval to open departments.

Most recently, on 25 August, the government appointed a new vice-chancellor at Narayanganj University of Science and Technology.

Professor Md Nazmus Sadat was appointed to the post. He had previously been appointed vice-chancellor of Gopalganj University of Science and Technology on 19 July.

According to a UGC source, the vice-chancellor of Narayanganj University of Science and Technology wrote to the UGC requesting that arrangements be made to rent a suitable location to begin the university’s administrative activities.

Education-sector experts say that establishing a university involves more than simply creating an administrative structure.

There must also be answers in advance to basic questions such as where students will study, where teachers will teach and conduct research, and how practical education will be provided.

The UGC and education-sector experts allege that the rush to start academic activities without ensuring even the minimum facilities creates opportunities for recruitment-related profiteering.

Allegations ranging from recruitment irregularities to other forms of misconduct have already been raised against the vice-chancellors of some universities.

For example, a former vice-chancellor of Khulna Agricultural University allegedly recruited his own son, daughter, a nephew of his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, and a nephew through irregularities and favouritism.

In all, the vice-chancellor appointed nine members of his family and relatives to the university. He also tried to appoint his wife as a professor, but was unsuccessful.

General subjects taught at specialised universities

There are 14 science and technology universities in the country. Questions have also been raised about their academic structures. Although these universities were established with the goal of producing graduates with specialised skills, many of them now offer subjects such as humanities, social sciences and business studies. Some have also introduced agricultural subjects. As a result, in some universities, a large proportion of students are studying subjects outside science and technology.

Take Jamalpur University of Science and Technology, for example. It has seven departments, three of which are outside science and technology—Management, Social Work and Geography.

Experts say that if a university tries to offer all types of subjects at the same time, its purpose and distinctive character as a specialised university become diluted. By contrast, several specialised universities, including Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and Bangladesh Agricultural University, have earned reputations at home and abroad while retaining their specialised identities.

The UGC approves the opening of new departments at universities. Many therefore believe that the UGC also bears responsibility for the tendency to open departments at specialised universities without properly considering their needs and objectives. Academics say there should be clear policies and discipline governing the opening of new departments.

One policy after another, but no implementation

Two current and former UGC officials told Prothom Alo that in the past, a project director would first be appointed to oversee the construction of infrastructure for a new university. Academic activities would then begin only after the minimum necessary facilities had been ensured. At Gopalganj University of Science and Technology (now known by a different name), a project director was initially appointed and some preliminary work was carried out before a vice-chancellor was appointed. But for the past 10–12 years, vice-chancellors have been appointed directly soon after the law establishing a new university is passed.

In May 2023, a full-commission meeting of the UGC approved the “Policy on Starting Academic Activities at New Public Universities.” The main objective of the policy was to prevent new public universities from launching academic activities in a haphazard manner from rented houses or other temporary facilities immediately after the law establishing them was passed. However, the policy has not been implemented.

Universities established without planning

According to UGC data, Bangladesh has 60 public universities and 116 approved private universities. More than 4.5 million students are enrolled in public and private universities, including educational institutions affiliated with the National University, Bangladesh Open University and Islamic Arabic University.

Excluding the National University, Bangladesh Open University and Islamic Arabic University, around 300,000 students study at other public universities. Private universities have more than 300,000 students.

Despite having so many universities, concerns remain about the quality of higher education. None of the country’s universities is ranked among the world’s top 500 in international rankings.

Although there is a comprehensive law governing the establishment and operation of private universities, there is no such overarching law for establishing public universities. In most cases, decisions to establish public universities in different parts of the country are taken on political considerations.

A draft law is then approved by the cabinet and passed by parliament, after which preparations begin to appoint a vice-chancellor and launch academic activities.

There have also been instances in which new universities were established in response to student movements. During the interim government’s tenure, Dhaka’s seven colleges were separated from the University of Dhaka and brought under a new university, Dhaka Central University, following demands from students. However, its operations began amid various problems and controversies from the outset.

More than half of the country’s public universities are concentrated in just seven districts, including metropolitan areas. Dhaka has 10, Chattogram five, Gazipur five, Khulna four, Rajshahi three, Sylhet three and Mymensingh two. There is one public university each in Kushtia, Dinajpur, Tangail, Patuakhali, Noakhali, Cumilla, Jashore, Pabna, Rangpur, Gopalganj, Barishal, Rangamati, Sirajganj, Netrokona, Jamalpur, Lalmonirhat, Chandpur, Kishoreganj, Habiganj, Kurigram, Sunamganj, Pirojpur, Naogaon, Meherpur, Bogura, Thakurgaon, Lakshmipur and Narayanganj. Several of these areas also have private universities. Around half of all private universities are located in Dhaka and its surrounding areas.

Against this backdrop, alongside the question of whether the country needs more new universities, an even more important question has emerged: are the universities being established actually prepared to operate as full-fledged institutions?

Sowmit Joydip, a teacher and researcher at BRAC University, compared the launch of public universities without their own campuses and without adequate preparation to “giving birth to a child before it reaches maturity.” He told Prothom Alo, “If a public university is being established with taxpayers’ money, why should it be done without adequate preparation?”

According to him, “Several years should be spent preparing properly to establish a full-fledged university. Academic activities should begin only after ensuring an independent campus, infrastructure and the necessary facilities. Otherwise, whatever else may be achieved there, it will not be possible to ensure university-level education.”

[Prothom Alo’s Sunamganj correspondent Khalil Rahman contributed information to this report.]