QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) has released the Best Student Cities Rankings 2025.
London has been named the top student city in the world for the sixth year in a row. Following London, Tokyo, Seoul, and Munich secured the second, third, and fourth positions, respectively. Melbourne dropped to fifth place. The rankings also included Berlin, Sydney, Paris, Zurich, and Montreal in that order.
Student Cities from India — Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai — have all made significant strides in this year’s rankings, particularly in affordability. Delhi, now the second most affordable city for students, has risen 21 spots to 111th. Bengaluru, having climbed 17 places, is now the seventh-cheapest city for students, ranking at 130th position, making higher education more accessible than ever.
All four Indian cities have made remarkable strides in the rankings, a testament to the growing potential of higher education in India. They are among the top thirty in terms of affordability and also among the top 100 in terms of employer activity, a promising sign for the future.
However, none of the Indian cities have made it to the top 100 for Student Mix, and they also do not rank in the top 100 for desirability as study destinations for international students. This is due to the early stages of internationalization of universities in India and the relatively low number of international students choosing to study there.
QS Best Student Cities 2025
Rank — City — Country — Overall Score
1 London United Kingdom 100
2 Tokyo Japan 99.2
3 Seoul South Korea 97.8
4 Munich Germany 97.7
5 Melbourne Australia 97.1
6 Sydney Australia 95.4
7 Paris France 94.6
8 Zurich Switzerland 94.5
9 Berlin Germany 94.4
10 Montreal Canada 92.1
11 Toronto Canada 91.9
12 Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe Japan 90.6
13 Edinburgh United Kingdom 90.5
14 Vienna Austria 90.1
15 Singapore Singapore 89.6
16 Boston United States 89
17 Lausanne Switzerland 87.8
18 New York United States 87.4
19 Vancouver Canada 87.1
=20 Amsterdam Netherlands 86.6
=20 Stockholm Sweden 86.6
22 Hong Kong SAR Hong Kong SAR 86
23 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 85.4
24 Auckland New Zealand 85
25 Brisbane Australia 84.8
26 Taipei Taiwan 84.6
27 Manchester United Kingdom 84.4
28 Adelaide Australia 84.1
=29 Canberra Australia 83.8
=29 San Francisco United States 83.8
31 Beijing China (Mainland) 83.7
32 Dublin Ireland 83.4
33 Glasgow United Kingdom 83.2
34 Madrid Spain 83.1
35 Perth Australia 82.2
36 Leuven Belgium 81.3
=37 Copenhagen Denmark 81.2
=37 Los Angeles United States 81.2
39 Newcastle Upon Tyne United Kingdom 80.9
40 Prague Czech Republic 80.8
41 Barcelona Spain 79.9
42 Buenos Aires Argentina 79
43 Coventry United Kingdom 78.7
44 Chicago United States 78.3
45 Bristol United Kingdom 78.2
46 Shanghai China (Mainland) 77.7
47 Lyon France 76.7
48 Birmingham United Kingdom 76.6
49 Gothenburg Sweden 76.4
50 Santiago Chile 76
51 Nottingham United Kingdom 75.6
52 Milan Italy 75.3
53 Leeds United Kingdom 75
=54 Liverpool United Kingdom 74.6
=54 Rome Italy 74.6
56 Brussels Belgium 74.3
57 Ottawa Canada 73.8
58 Warsaw Poland 73.6
59 Bangkok Thailand 71.8
60 Lisbon Portugal 71.3
61 Belfast United Kingdom 71.2
62 Istanbul Türkiye 71.1
63 Budapest Hungary 70.8
64 Sheffield United Kingdom 70.4
65 Philadelphia United States 70.3
66 Helsinki Finland 69.7
67 Brno Czech Republic 69.6
68 Turin Italy 69.3
69 San Diego United States 69.2
70 Washington DC United States 68.7
71 Aberdeen United Kingdom 66.8
=72 Atlanta United States 66.4
=72 Dubai United Arab Emirates 66.4
74 Daejeon South Korea 66.2
75 Cairo Egypt 65.8
76 Oslo Norway 65.7
77 Brighton United Kingdom 65.4
78 Almaty Kazakhstan 65
79 Christchurch New Zealand 64.4
80 Pittsburgh United States 64.2
81 Cape Town South Africa 64
82 Ankara Türkiye 63.9
83 Amman Jordan 63.6
84 Hsinchu Taiwan 63.5
85 Mexico City Mexico 63.4
86 Johannesburg South Africa 62.7
87 Nanjing China (Mainland) 62.4
=88 Doha Qatar 62.1
=88 Seattle United States 62.1
90 Valencia Spain 62
=91 Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates 61.5
=91 Krakow Poland 61.5
93 Gold Coast Australia 61.4
=94 Durham United States 60.8
=94 Leicester United Kingdom 60.8
96 Graz Austria 60.3
=97 Riyadh Saudi Arabia 60
=97 Sao Paulo Brazil 60
=97 Tainan Taiwan 60
=97 Toulouse France 60
101 Sharjah United Arab Emirates 59.9
102 Stuttgart Germany 59.6
103 Manila Philippines 59.4
104 Wuhan China (Mainland) 58.8
105 Athens Greece 58.5
106 Houston United States 57.8
107 Baltimore United States 56.8
108 Nagoya Japan 56.1
109 Subang Jaya Malaysia 56
110 Bogota Colombia 55.5
111 Delhi India 55.3
112 Monterrey Mexico 55.2
113 Mumbai India 54.8
114 Beirut Lebanon 54.6
115 Miami United States 54.4
116 Riga Latvia 54.3
=117 Taichung Taiwan 52.8
=117 Yogyakarta Indonesia 52.8
119 Pretoria South Africa 52.6
=120 Jakarta Indonesia 52.4
=120 Jeddah Saudi Arabia 52.4
=120 Wroclaw Poland 52.4
=123 Shah Alam Malaysia 52.3
=123 Vilnius Lithuania 52.3
125 Astana Kazakhstan 52.2
=126 Lima Peru 51.8
=126 Taoyuan District Taiwan 51.8
128 Quebec Canada 51.4
129 Izmir Türkiye 50.6
=130 Bangalore India 50.4
=130 Bratislava Slovakia 50.4
132 Bandung Indonesia 49.9
133 Guangzhou China (Mainland) 49.8
134 Dallas United States 49.7
135 Cluj-Napoca Romania 48.8
136 Busan South Korea 48.6
137 Tianjin China (Mainland) 48.5
=138 Montpellier France 48.2
=138 Poznań Poland 48.2
140 Chennai India 47.8
141 Dhaka Bangladesh 47.7
142 Surabaya Indonesia 46.5
=143 Bucharest Romania 46
=143 Macau Macau SAR 46
=143 Tallinn Estonia 46 146 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 45.5
147 Kaunas Lithuania 44.4
=148 Alexandria Egypt 43.6
=148 Harbin China (Mainland) 43.6
150 Xi’an China (Mainland)
Source: QS (Quacquarelli Symonds)
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