Forbes ranks best US colleges for int’l students

Forbes, an American business news magazine, has waded further into the crowded rankings pool by creating its first list of the best US colleges for international students.

Babson College in Massachusetts has been named the top college in the US for international students, in the inaugural ranking. Forbes also creates the Top Colleges rankings which is has produced since 2008.

With almost a million international students enrolled at institutions in the US in 2014/15, Forbes said it “decided to look at what schools are best for this exploding demographic” with its newest table.

“International students are seeking out a very particular type of education”

The best colleges for international students rankings looked at four-year public and private institutions in the US, and ranked the top 50.

Following top-ranked Babson College was Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, then Claremont McKenna College in California and Columbia University. Massachusetts Institute of Technology completed the top five.

In order to compile the rankings, the company weighted 50% of its assessment on the quality of the institution which includes graduate success, student debt, and student satisfaction.

The other metrics looked at were the percentage of international students (20%), the percentage increase of international students (5%), as well as graduation success for international students (10%).

Majors/programmes of interest for international students, which accounted for 15%, looked at Open Doors fields of study data, which shows 60% of international students study degrees in engineering, business & management, and maths & sciences.

“International students are seeking out a very particular type of education,” Amir Reza, Babson College’s vice provost for international and multicultural education, told Forbes. One third of the institution’s student enrolment this year was made up of international students.

“Our focus is business and liberal arts and we’re highly ranked in entrepreneurship.”

Making up the top 10 was Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts (6^th), Georgetown University (7^th), Princeton University (8^th), Brandeis University (9^th), and University of Pennsylvania (10^th).

All Ivy League schools made the top 50, including Brown University at 11^th, and Yale University at 25^th.