Melbourne ranked fifth best city in the world to study in

The laneway capital adds another feather to its cap
Australia was ranked third overall behind Japan and South Korea
The rankings take into account a large number of factors

A new piece of research has uncovered which cities are the best to study in, with four Australian locations making the top 20.

Conducted by online higher education resource, Helpful Professor, the study took into account over 1,300 universities across 339 cities in 85 countries.

The best cities to study in were considered for the number of universities within the city, the average university score, average international students, cost of living, freedom, safety, and friendliness.

Melbourne was ranked best in Australia, and fifth best in the world. Melbourne was also ranked the best city for international immigrants earlier this month.

Australia as a whole ranked third in the world behind Japan and South Korea, beating the likes of the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom.

The top 20 cities to study in worldwide

Rank	City	Total Score (out of 100)
1	Montreal, Canada	62
2	Tokyo, Japan	61
2	Vancouver, Canada	61
4	Glasgow, United Kingdom	59
5	Melbourne, Australia	55
6	Liverpool, United Kingdom	54
6	Copenhagen, Denmark	54
6	Manchester, United Kingdom	54
6	Munich, Germany	54
6	Sydney, Australia	54
11	Dublin, Ireland	52
11	Brisbane, Australia	52
11	London, United Kingdom	52
14	Seoul, South Korea	51
14	Aachen, Germany	51
16	Canberra, Australia	49
16	Delft, Netherlands	49
16	Cambridge, United Kingdom	49
16	Paris, France	49
20	Vienna, Austria	48
20	Groningen, Netherlands	48
20	Maastricht, Netherlands	48
20	Lund, Sweden	48
20	Toronto, Canada	48

Source: Helpful Professor, Best Cities to Study in the World.

Helpful Professor scores each city based on several factors.

The number of universities each city has is one of those factors, with the company noting that: “City’s boasting multiple top universities are sure to have an established student ecosystem, so the larger the city, the better it is for students.”

Rankings for capital cities tending to reflect this notion, the research noting “… capital cities often have a rich history of hosting young people for higher education, they tend to offer superior infrastructure.”

The study also considered the average university score, referring in particular to the QS rankings, or to give it its full name: Quacquarelli Symonds.

Helpful Professor said it used the scores from QS and averaged it across the universities within each city.

The number of international students in each city was also considered, with the Helpful Professor also taking into account information from QS with regard to international student numbers.

Cities typically saw 3055 international students per year.

Whether you can get by on a shoestring was another factor, with the sharp rises in the cost of living even more pronounced today. The study took into account figures from Numbeo on which cities were more budget-friendly, with New York City scoring a wallet-whimpering 100, while lower scores indicated a more pocket-friendly location.

Helpful Professor used Freedom House figures to determine how free a country or city was. Safety was another important factor, again using figures from Numbeo.

Finally, friendliness was considered in the city rankings, taking inspiration from Rough Guides’ The World’s Friendliest Cities.

The best cities to study in for Australia

Rank	City	Total Score (out of 100)
1	Melbourne, Australia	55
2	Sydney, Australia	54
3	Brisbane, Australia	52
4	Canberra, Australia	49
5	Adelaide, Australia	45
6	Perth, Australia	43
7	Hobart, Australia	41
8	Gold Coast, Australia	36

Source: Helpful Professor, Best Cities to Study in the World.

The top 20 countries to study in worldwide

Rank	Country	Total Score (out of 100)
1	Japan	64
1	South Korea	64
3	Australia	59
4	Netherlands	57
5	Sweden	56
6	Denmark	55
7	United Kingdom	55
7	Argentina	55
9	Canada	53
10	Austria	53
10	Finland	53
12	Ireland	52
13	Germany	52
14	Belgium	52
15	Portugal	51
16	Chile	51
17	Switzerland	50
18	Czech Republic	50
19	Hungary	49
19	Singapore	49
19	New Zealand	49
19	Norway	49
19	Spain	49
19	Slovakia	49