education

Updated: Feb 15, 2017 21:09 IST

Mumbai and New Delhi have for the first time been ranked among the world’s 100 best places to be a student in the QS Best Student Cities ranking. Montreal is at first place in the list released today by QS (Quacquarelli Symonds), compilers of the QS World University Rankings. It knocked off Paris, which has topped the list in all previous editions since 2012 and is placed second his year.

QS analyses cities according to performance in six composite indicators: affordability, desirability, student mix, rankings, employer activity, and, for the first time, student view. The ranking expands from 75 cities to 100 this year.

Mumbai has been placed 85, the highest position for an Indian city on the list, followed by New Delhi at 86.

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Indian cities have done really well in the affordability metric, which measures the cost of living in each city. New Delhi ranks 15 for this indicator, while Mumbai is placed at 30. They also both see high levels of employer activity. While Mumbai is at number 40, New Delhi is at 50.

Ben Sowter, head of research at QS says: “ New Delhi and Mumbai are featured for the first time in our ranking. Both cities do really well in the affordability indicator and reasonably well in the employer activity indicator, based on the opinion of local and international employers surveyed (37,000 recruiters surveyed globally) who are asked to indicate which universities produce the best graduates based on their knowledge and experience. We have ranked the most attractive cities for international students and while the two leading Indian metro cities are certainly on the map, given the huge domestic demand of university places, the focus is principally on serving local students.”

There is an increase in the desirability score of both cities. This measures a number of indicators pertaining to quality of life, including pollution, corruption, and safety. Mumbai is 90th, New Delhi 91st.

The top five cities in Asia are: Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe. The best city in the US to study is Boston, which places 8th worldwide. London rises from 5th to 3rd, and is the UK’s highest-ranking city. Canadian cities perform well in the wake of recent political events in the US. Four of their five ranked cities rise, and Vancouver (10th) also places in the top 10. QS analysed 125 cities for this year’s ranking, publishing the top 100.

This year’s ranking also features the student view for the first time. This metric is based on the survey responses of 18,000 students, who named the cities in which they would most like to study (student desirability), their willingness to remain in a city after graduation, and the quality of their experience there. Mumbai ranks 74th for the student view; New Delhi ranks 82nd. See the top 10 ranking of cities below.

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