KL Almost Beats Washington DC In List Of Best Student Cities In The World

Kuala Lumpur has been listed in the top 50 cities for tertiary students to live in.

Malaysia’s capital city is ranked 43rd in the annual QS Best Student Cities Ranking released today, up one place from its position last year.

QS head of research Ben Sowter said that Kuala Lumpur scored the maximum number of points for affordability, making it the most affordable city in the world for students.

Sowter said tuition fees for international students were competitive and the retail price indices, based on prices of fast food and consumer technology, identified Kuala Lumpur as affordable.

Factors in Kuala Lumpur’s favour included its strategic location in Asean which enables easier travel to neighbouring countries, no language barrier as everyone speaks English, cultural diversity and good and affordable food.

Singapore, at third spot, ranked highest among Asian cities.

This is followed by Hong Kong (seventh), Seoul (14th), Tokyo (17th), Beijing (18th), Taipei (28th), Shanghai (35th) and Kyoto (50th).

Two pre-requisites have been established to identify the cities evaluated in this exercise. The first is that each city must have a population of over 250,000, the second that it must be home to at least two ranked institutions.

qs.com

The ranking, compiled by the team which produces the annual QS World University Rankings, is based on five key pillars, which are then broken down into individual criteria namely university rankings, student mix, quality of living, employer activity and affordability.