Browse Courses

Studying in Berlin: one of 10 best cities for students in the world

by Paris Karagkounis

The QS Best Student Cities list is published every year. This year studying in Berlin ranked 9th while Munich came in 11th place.

The Best Student Cities index calculates the most student-friendly cities in the world on 5 categories:

  1. University rankings: Calculated by the number of universities featured on the World University Rankings and a score depending on which ranking each institution has.
  2. Affordability: Calculated by the tuition fees index, the Big Mac and Ipad Index and the Mercer cost of Living Index. Many indicate that even a European capital, Berlin still has moderately cheap rents and stable living costs. As a result it got its’ highest marks in the affordability category.
  3. Student mix: Calculated by the volume of international students, the ratio of international to local students and the tolerance and inclusion index.
  4. Desirability: Calculated by the Economist’s Liveability Index, the Globalization and World Cities Index, the Safety and Pollution score by Numbeo and the Corruption Perceptions Index.
  5. Employer activity: Calculated by the number of universities domestic employers favour, a number of the universities international employers believe produced excellent graduates and the World Bank’s Youth Employment Bonus.

The city is also highly regarded among students all over the world, thanks to an increasing number of graduate and post-graduate courses in English. Berlin’s Freie Universität ranked 119th in the QS world university rankings. The city is considered acutely artistic for its museums and galleries. While the youngsters love it for its vibrant night life.

where to study in germany, Studying in Berlin
© Image via Pixabay

Paris tops the list as the world’s most student-friendly city, for a fourth year. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, told to Guardian: “Paris is proud to be ranked as the best world student city. Our youth represents our greatest strength and incarnates our greatest hope. We carry an ambitious politic to make youth able to blossom, be successful, be able to choose and to build its future. We will continue to support students by offering them opportunities, in an open, dynamic and creative city.”

The French capital continues to appeal to the majority of expat students for its international universities. Eighteen of them being among the world’s top 75. The city got high scores for its moderately low fees, averaging $2400 in 2014, and for its local students’ high aspects of employability.

London fell into the 5th position this year due to its high cost of living. The world’s leading financial hub is widely known for its acclaimed universities. The UCL, University College London, and the Imperial College ranked 7th and 8th in the world.

Montreal is placed on the 7th position. Its famous McGill University is 24th in the world, the city is also known for its International Jazz Festival. Montreal got a high score in the student mix category.

Lastly, the city of Munich reached the 11th place. Home to the headquarters of a number of famous German multinationals such as BMW, Siemens and Allianz. Munich got surprisingly its highest marks in the affordability category.