The Korean capital was the only city to get a total score of 100, with the rankings based upon various steps from the strength of its universities and their attract employers, to affordability and the views of trainees.
“Seoul’s repeat title shows sustained financial investment in higher education,” said QS senior vice president Ben Sowter. “To top a field of 150 cities as soon as is an achievement; to do it twice in succession, and with an ideal rating, speaks with something long lasting”.
“South Korea is revealing that quality is spreading across the nation, not pooling in one place,” added Sowter, highlighting the depth beyond the capital, with Daejeon and Gwangju getting in the rankings for the first time, bringing the total to 5.
While the podium positions stay unchanged from last year, Australian cities saw significant rises, with Melbourne and Sydney climbing up into the world’s leading five student cities, with the latter tied with Munich to finish the top 5.
Berlin was the second-highest German city, drawing with Paris at 7th place, while the German capital was ranked very first worldwide by trainees themselves.
The rise of Melbourne and Sydney provided Australia more cities in the top five than any other nation, along with being home to the world’s two most diverse cities, though affordability remains an obstacle for all of its seven ranked locations.
On the other hand, 16 UK cities put in the 150-strong ranking– the most appearances of any country and highlighting the breadth of the sector. Behind London, Edinburgh climbed up 2 locations to 15th, and Glasgow climbed up four places to reach 35th.
To get approved for the index, a city requires a population of above 250,000 and at least 2 universities in the QS World Rankings, omitting celebrated however smaller university towns such as Oxford and Cambridge, noted QS.
South Korea is revealing that quality is spreading out across the nation, not pooling in one place
Ben Sowter, QS
QS said London owed its third-place position to the strength of its universities and to what trainees say about living there, while cost was identified as the “single weak point” dragging the capital down listed below the 2 Asian cities above it. Noticeably, no British city ranked greater than 95th of 150 on affordability.
On the other hand, Tokyo keeps second place as Japanese cities were buoyed by company strength and affordability.
It comes as the Japanese federal government has actually achieved its ambitious internationalisation goal of inviting 400,000 incoming trainees way ahead of time. Though the index revealed that a narrow international trainee base stayed the sector’s powerlessness.
Of the rankings’ 150 cities, 61 are in Europe, 52 in Asia, 18 in the United States and Canada, 12 in the Middle East and Africa, and seven in Latin America.
A considerable motorist of Asia’s rise is China, with 10 mainland Chinese cities now including in the rankings, scoring highly on cost, strengthening universities and deepening employer links.
China is quick overturning its standard credibility as a source nation for global trainees, with commentators pointing to a maturing of outgoing trainee movement as more students choose to study in China, while the nation intends to grow its TNE enrolments to 8 million.
While the US put more than any cities in the rankings except for the UK, 10 of the 14 fell this year, with QS highlighting a image of “broad retreat” — a pattern that mirrors the broader pressure on US appeal amid visa volatility and progressively restrictive costs.
There was a similar story in Canada where the 4 ranked cities all slipped this year, as 2 and a half years of federal government limitations and price barriers in Toronto and Vancouver take hold.