Manila rises in latest QS Best Student Cities ranking

Manila has risen four places in the fifth edition of the QS Best Student Cities Ranking to rank in 89^th place. The table, released by global higher education analysts QS Quacquarelli Symonds, compilers of the QS World University Rankings, sees Paris lose the number-one position for the first time since the ranking began in 2012. Montreal replace it at the top of the ranking, which ranks the world’s top 100 cities.

Cities were ranked according to performance in six composite indicators: Desirability, Rankings, Student Mix, Employer Activity, Affordability, and, for the first time, Student View.  This new indicator is based on the survey responses of 18,000 students worldwide. Students were asked to name the city in which they would most like to study, their experience studying in a particular city, and their intention to remain there post-graduation.

QS analysed 125 cities according to these criteria. Manila’s strongest performance is in the “Affordability” indicator where it ranks 21st globally (out of 125 cities). The city improves its scores in the “Ranking” indicator, which measure the number and rank position of the local universities featured in the QS World University Rankings.  It also improves slightly in the “Desirability” indicator, but even so it only ranks 103^rd globally in such metric.  Manila loses 19 places in the “Employer Activity” indicator (now ranking 94^th globally) and five scores in the “Student Mix” indicator, now ranking 109^th globally.

Across the rest of the world, highlights include:

• Montreal’s success is the latest of a series of propitious signs for a city beginning to escape a period of economic stagnation, following positive growth forecasts for 2017, and the recent announcement of its selection as the ‘World’s Most Intelligent City’. Its first-place ranking is also the highlight of a series of positive performances from  Canadian cities: four of the country’s five ranked cities improve their position;
• Boston is the US’s best student city, placing 8^th;
• Paris only falls one place to second, while London rises two places to third;
• UK cities perform generally well, implying that its cities remain excellent student destinations in the face of the nation’s impending exit from the European Union.

QS Best Student Cities 2017: Top 10
RANK 2017	RANK 2016	CITY
1	7	Montreal
2	1	Paris
3	5	London
4	10	Seoul
5	2	Melbourne
6	9	Berlin
7	3	Tokyo
8	13	Boston
9	11	Munich
10	13	Vancouver
© QS Quacquarelli Symonds 2004-2017  http://www.TopUniversities.com/

The full ranking will be hosted here, while the full methodology can be found here.