When international students consider a study abroad location they look at a couple of factors that will enable them to live an affordable study life. However, not all international students focus solely on affordability. There are different reasons why international students choose their study location. We can group these reasons into categories.
These are the 3 categories that most international students fall into when choosing their study abroad location:
CATEGORIES OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
- The Affordability category: The buzzword that these international students love to hear is affordability. If you find yourself in this category it helps to heavily focus on preparing financially and looking out for affordable student cities.
- The Quality education category: International students want quality education but there is a small percentage that pursues the ranking of the school above anything else. Their concern is on the ratings of the school and prospects of high-quality network building after study. They tend to look for ivy league schools.
- The Scholarship category: These are the ones that want a scholarship because that is the only way they can ever dream of studying abroad. Intending students in this category you should check out the fully-funded scholarships for International students.
Do you fall into any of these categories? No matter the category you fall into, your needs are valid.
METHODOLOGY FOR RANKING THE BEST STUDENT CITIES
Now, let’s talk about the best cities for international students. If your goal is to determine the best and most affordable school for your studies abroad then look through this carefully curated list.
According to the QS Best Student Cities ranking factors such as affordability, desirability, and the opinions of current students are considered in this list. The ranking displays the best study destinations for international students, based on five key categories:
- University rankings –This explains the performance of the university in an international standard and how they rank in the QS World University Rankings
- Student mix –This explains the mix of both local and international students. The city that has a higher number of international students is greatly equipped to handle a lot of students from the international scene.
- Desirability –This measures how much of a “dream city” the city is to the student. Factors like safety, pollution, and low corruption are considered.
- Employer activity –This measures how many graduate jobs are available to both local and international students. More attention is placed on how employer activity favors international students.
- Affordability –The metric is one of the most important to an international student. It looks at different indicators like the affordability of living in the city. It also looks at the affordable study fees of the school. Then finally looks at the general living expenses.
- Student view – Ironically, students may love an expensive city because it affords them a better social life. It also affords them a great community. Finally, it affords then better work opportunities. The student experience of the city is taken into consideration here.
THE BEST STUDENT CITIES LIST FOR 2022
This is the list that you clicked on this post to read. Let’s get on with it, shall we?
Now that we know what influenced the list for best student cities, here are the top eleven (11) best university cities for international students:
- London, England (1st)
- Munich, Germany (2nd)
- Seoul, South Korea (3rd)
- Tokyo, Japan (3rd)
- Berlin, Germany (5th)
- Melbourne, Australia (6th)
- Zurich, Switzerland (7th)
- Sydney, Australia (8th)
- Boston, USA (9th)
- Montreal, Canada (9th)
- Paris, France (9th)
But that’s not all, we have another list.
Most International students can agree that affordability is one of the most important factors when making their study abroad choice. The list above is great for looking at several factors that make studying in a city abroad desirable. However, if your sole purpose is just to study at the most affordable city and school possible, then this list below is for you.
THE SUPER AFFORDABLE STUDENT CITIES
Let’s look at the very affordable student cities for international students with a really limited budget. The QS World University ranking numbers are included beside each city :
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (31st)
- Kazan, Russia (102nd)
- Novosibirsk, Russia (107th)
- Athens, Greece (76th)
- Johannesburg, South Africa (92nd)
- Tomsk, Russia (85th)
- Bangalore, India (110th)
- Budapest, Hungary (58th)
- Vilnius, Lithuania (102nd)
- Hsinchu, Taiwan (72nd).
Russia seems to appear on this list a lot. Did you notice?
If you are looking for super affordable study options then this list is for you. You should note that if you want to get super affordable living costs and tuition fees, you will also sacrifice some other factors. You can see from this list that none of them made it to the overall top 30 universities in the world. There is a reason for that. This is why research is so important.
Do you agree with this list? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.
Add a Comment