Singapore has dropped eight places to 14th in the
latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) ranking of the the best cities in
the world for students.
The 2017 QS Best Student Cities report, which is a
spin-off of the annual QS World University Rankings, was released
on Wednesday (Feb 15). In 2016, Singapore came in 6th globally, and
2nd in Asia behind Tokyo in 2016. This year though, the Republic
has fallen behind Seoul and Hong Kong among Asian cities.
The 2017 edition of the QS Best Student Cities ranked
cities according to a basket of measures such as the quality of the
city’s universities, the “desirability” of the city for students,
the make-up of the student population in the city, access to jobs
for students after they graduate, and the affordability of
education and living expenses in a city.
Montreal topped the 2017 rankings ahead of Paris.
London, Seoul, Melbourne, Berlin, Tokyo, Boston, Munich and
Vancouver rounded up the top 10.
Singapore fared well globally for “desirability” and
employer activity, placing 15th and 11th overall, while the nation
was also praised as a “centre of educational excellence” given the
high rankings of the National University of Singapore and the
Nanyang Technological University in the QS World University
Rankings.
The Republic also placed 20th globally for its
diversity of students.
Singapore was marked down, however, for affordability,
coming in 90th out of 125 cities worldwide. “Tuition fees have...
increased in recent years, particularly for international
students,” noted QS.
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