Paris’s four year reign on the top of being the best student cities in the world has suddenly been taken over by the cultural capital of Canada, Montreal. It was recently released in the best student
Index in the QS magazine.
Apart from being multilingual and multicultural, they have also been recognised as the Intelligent community of the year. Montreal has performed well in all six categories for the Best Student cities index. The index showcases the best urban destinations for international students based on the University Rankings, Student Mix, Desirability, Employer Activity and Affordability. In the 2016 iteration however, they have included the sixth new category called Student view which is based on a survey of students and recent graduates around the world. Other basic categories for inclusion into this index is that the city must have a population of over 250,000 and be home to at least two universities which again should be featured in the World University Rankings. As per the current calculations, only 125 cities qualify for consideration.
Montreal comes out fifth in the student view indicator. This has been determined with a particularly strong rating for its arts and cultural offering, as well as for its friendliness, diversity and affordability. This latest update has also set a trend at the national level with the list featuring, four out of five Canadian cities, with each of them improving their positions. The most significant ones are namely, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Quebec. This similar upward trend is also observed in some of the German cities.
With the fall of the value of pound, due to the ongoing impact of Brexit, British cities present a more affordable proposition for international students. Apart from UK cities, other European destinations like Zurich, Vienna and Barcelona have also seen an upward trend. Some of the leading Asian countries are also seeing a surge in student influx with Seoul surging to sixth place, followed by Tokyo and Hong Kong and Singapore.
Amongst all the US cities that have lost its sheen due to rising cost of living, Boston has advanced its position to the eighth place. New York was able to climb only one place.
The previously dominating cities of Australia have also taken a hit in their performance, with an exception of Melbourne which stays strong in fifth place.
The survey also asked students to identify their dream city. As per the statistics drawn from this survey, it was observed that the world’s most iconic and in-demand destinations do not always live up to expectations, while students were happy with their life style in lesser-known cities.
