World renowned higher education analysts QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) have released their latest ranking of the world’s best cities for university students, with London perched firmly at the top.
For the 2018 list, European cities took five of the top ten spots, but more surprising was the fact that none of cities in the US made it among the top ten cities for students. Published annually, the fifth edition of the ranking takes into account six key indicators to categorise cities, including university rankings, student mix, desirability, employer activity, affordability and student view.
But QS also makes a city’s inclusion in the ranking subject to a few conditions, further validating the stringent checks put in place for devising the list. To qualify for consideration, a city must have a population of over 250,000, and have at least two universities featured in the most recent QS World University Rankings.
For the 2018 ranking, London climbed two spots from third to be placed at the top, shattering perceptions that Brexit would have a detrimental effect on fortunes of higher education in the UK. London was followed by Tokyo in the second place and Melbourne took the third spot. Both London and Tokyo also ranked high – number two and number one, respectively – for employer activity, an indicator that gauges how much a city is considered as “recruiting grounds among graduate employers”.
Other cities in the top ten list included Montreal, Paris, Munich, Berlin, Zurich Sydney and Seoul, in that order. In terms of student view, Montreal was the number one city, followed by Munich at the second and Melbourne on the third. The top ranked city, London, ranked at number 13 on that account.
The highest ranking attained by a US city in this year’s ranking was that by Boston, which claimed the 13th position on the list, followed by New York at the 18th spot.
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