Dublin has jumped six places in a global ranking of 125 university cities on the back of strong responses from its student population.
According to the fifth edition of the QS Best Student Cities ranking, released by global higher education analysts QS Quacquarelli Symonds, Dublin is now in 31st place in the global ranking, up from 37 in 2016. Some 43 per cent of surveyed students from Dublin reported an intention to stay there after graduating.
Cities are ranked on a number of indicators, including student mix and affordability.
Dublin was found to be one of the most diverse of the 125 cities ranked by QS, while it also scored highly for its “employer activity”, which measures the willingness of global employers to hire graduates from the city’s universities.
However, Dublin slipped up when it came to its “desirability”, ie factors relating to quality-of-life, including pollution, corruption, and safety, slipping down to 39th place.
Across the rest of the world, Paris lost the top position for the first time since the ranking began in 2012, usurped by Montreal which jumps from seventh place to first. London rose two places to third, while Seoul in South Korea is Asia’s best student destination, ranking fourth, and Boston –home to Harvard and MIT– is the best student city in the US, placing eighth in the world.
