In a new survey conducted by QS, known for its World University Rankings, the Best Student Cities of the world have been revealed, with Paris, France leading the pack. Second was London, UK and third Boston in the USA.
The ratings are based on a “complex set of measures” taken from public information, population sizes, the number of educational establishments and their quality (as judged by the QS World University Rankings).
Weighting is biased towards higher education establishments as opposed to language teaching operations and FE colleges, but the results are a refreshing look at how cities fare comparatively and take into account factors such as employability, student mix and affordability. In fact, Nunzio Quacquarelli, Managing Director of QS, pointed out that Paris edged out the competition chiefly because of its affordability.
“Many of its universities offer education to domestic and international students at very low cost and that, combined with a strong mix of students, strong presence of employers and good quality of life” was its recipe for success, Quacquarelli revealed in a video unveiling the top 10.
In the same video, London’s Mayor, Boris Johnson, extolls the virtues of his runner-up city, London, pointing out that as well as world class institutions, London has 400,000 students and “more museums than Paris; and by the way, ours are free”.
The top 10 of the top 50 in full:
1. Paris, France
2. London, UK
3. Boston, USA
4. Melbourne, Australia
5. Vienna, Austria
6. Sydney, Australia
=8. Berlin, Germany
=8. Dublin, Ireland
10. Montreal, Canada
Looking at the wider list, Australia celebrated the fact that it had two cities in the top 10 – and four in the top 50. Singapore, in position 12, was given the highest score for employer activity, while Melbourne in Australia scored most highly for student mix. Vienna in Austria must owe its high ranking to a 99.5 score for quality of living.
Melbourne in Australia scored most highly for student mix
Vickie Chiu at the QS Press Office explained that QS decided to produce a more lateral rankings survey because, “from speaking with students directly, we found that very often, going to university is about more than just selecting the most prestigious institution. A broad range of factors are taken into account and there was not yet a ranking out there which looks at the whole picture”.
