A significant majority of academics, professionals, students and members of the public strongly condemn the use of higher education as a commercial product and the legitimization of a commercially oriented education definition with respect to the government's intention to grant approval to private universities/higher education institutions. This article aims to examine whether and how private higher education could empower or disempower Sri Lankan youth, as argued by parties that strongly support and condemn it. Although private educational and higher education institutions are not a new phenomenon in the country and have been a controversial topic Throughout this topic, the government intends to increase support for the establishment of private universities and the reluctance of professional medical bodies to grant approval for the newly formed private medical college in Sri Lanka has given rise to a heated debate. However, there is an explanatory gap in the discourses for and against private higher education in Sri Lanka because they seem to be obsessed with the logistical and monetary aspects of the problem. The present study supports a philosophy of empowerment through education and considering empowerment as the basis for analysis; aims to answer the question posed in the title: Can private higher education (dis-)empower Sri Lanka's youth? However, my concern is not limited to the realization that what might empower one segment of any community might disempower another segment of the same community. To suggest this, in my title, I add in parentheses the prefix "dis" before the word "empower" and the phrase, a question mark is in parentheses to the phrase "a degree for sale", a reflection of the popular S... .. half of the paper ...... state universities resulting from the strengthening of the private sector of higher education. Interestingly, several informants, in the course of interviews, stated their disillusionment with the shortcomings of the country's public administration, including higher education, and doubted the extent to which "quality assurance" would work in the context Sri Lankan. However, overall, the findings of my research can be used in future policy making in Sri Lankan higher education, especially as they seek to document the students' perspective which seems to have been ignored at present in higher education policy planning . In other words, stakeholders' concerns and constructive criticism can be used not only in policymaking for private higher education, but also in education policymaking in general..