Singapore is out of the Top 10 cities for students by slipping eight spots to place 14th overall. The Republic was ranked sixth last year.
The global higher education Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) ranking report’s Best Student Cities index assessed cities based on five indicators – university rankings, student mix, desirability, employer activity and affordability. Over 18,000 students were surveyed for this year’s index.
QS was first published in 2012. Since then, Paris has topped it for the last five years after Montreal becomes the world’s best student city.
It’s the first time that the index has featured 100 cities, up from 75 previously. A new category called student view has also been added. It takes into account students’ perceptions of their city in eight areas including affordability, employment opportunities, diversity and friendliness.
Though Singapore has earned a reputation for its educational excellence, the Republic was marked down for affordability – based on tuition fees and cost of living – coming in 72nd spot, much lower than the 32nd position it was in last year. “Tuition fees have… increased in recent years, particularly for international students,” said QS.
Singapore slipped by four spots to place 15th this year in terms of desirability which takes into account quality of living environment.
Singapore came in at 11th compared to its 8th position in last year’s index for employer activity, which takes into consideration how sought after a city is perceived to be as recruiting grounds among employers.
Singapore slipped by four places to land in 17th place under the university rankings category which reflects the collective performance of cities’ universities.
Similar to last year’s ranking, Singapore attained the 20th position for student mix, which looks at factors such as the proportion of international students as well as the level of tolerance and inclusion in universities.
Under the new category of student view – which takes into account students’ ratings of their city in eight areas including affordability, diversity, employment opportunities and friendliness – Singapore was ranked 31st, with Ottawa topping the list.