3 min readNew DelhiJul 22, 2026 11:06 AM IST
Seoul has retained its position as the world’s best student city in the QS Best Student Cities 2027 rankings released on Wednesday. Tokyo and London secured the second and third spots, followed by Melbourne in fourth place. Munich and Sydney shared the fifth position. Among Indian cities, Mumbai emerged as the country’s highest-ranked student destination, climbing seven places to rank 91st globally, while Delhi entered the global top 100 at 99th.
The annual rankings, published by global higher education analysts QS Quacquarelli Symonds, assess 150 cities across six indicators — university quality, employer activity, affordability, desirability, student mix and student view. Besides Mumbai and Delhi, Bengaluru was placed joint 114th after slipping six places, while Chennai improved five positions to rank 123.
Delhi, meanwhile, has been recognised as the world’s most affordable student city in the QS Best Student Cities 2027 rankings. The national capital received the highest affordability score globally, with QS noting that average annual international tuition fees are around US$2,700 (approximately Rs 2.6 lakh). Delhi also ranked 29th worldwide for employer activity, reflecting strong graduate employment prospects.
Among Indian cities, Mumbai recorded the biggest improvement in the overall rankings, supported by strong scores in employer activity and affordability. Bengaluru was the only Indian city to register a decline this year, while Chennai posted a modest gain.
QS Best Student Cities 2027: India rankings
| Global Rank | City | Overall Score | Student View | Student Mix | Employer Activity | Desirability | Affordability | University Rankings |
| 91 | Mumbai | 61.8 | 43.5 | 15.0 | 78.3 | 44.9 | 84.4 | 39.0 |
| 99 | Delhi | 60.3 | 14.6 | 22.6 | 80.4 | 35.8 | 93.9 | 50.3 |
| =114 | Bengaluru | 56.0 | 51.1 | 17.8 | 66.8 | 37.5 | 77.2 | 26.4 |
| 123 | Chennai | 54.0 | 15.3 | 24.2 | 64.6 | 44.7 | 74.7 | 43.1 |
Mumbai’s rise from 98th to 91st made it India’s highest-ranked city for students this year. The city ranked 34th globally for employer activity and 12th for affordability, reflecting a combination of recognised universities, employment opportunities and comparatively lower education costs.
Delhi improved from 104th to 99th position, helped by its strong affordability performance and employer activity score. Bengaluru slipped six places, with QS attributing part of the decline to comparatively higher international tuition fees, averaging around US$5,400 annually, the highest among the four Indian cities featured. Chennai climbed from 128th to 123rd.
World’s top 10 student cities in 2027
| Rank | City | Country | Overall Score | Best-performing category |
| 1 | Seoul | South Korea | 100.0 | University Rankings (100) |
| 2 | Tokyo | Japan | 98.0 | Employer Activity (100) |
| 3 | London | United Kingdom | 97.3 | Student View (99.0) |
| 4 | Melbourne | Australia | 94.8 | Student Mix (100) |
| =5 | Munich | Germany | 94.1 | Student View (93.1) |
| =5 | Sydney | Australia | 94.1 | Student Mix (99.1) |
| 7 | Paris | France | 92.5 | Employer Activity (87.2) |
| 8 | Berlin | Germany | 91.8 | Student View (100) |
| 9 | Vienna | Austria | 90.9 | Desirability (96.8) |
| 10 | Zurich | Switzerland | 90.6 | Student View (95.2) |
Seoul retained the top position with a perfect overall score of 100, backed by the world’s highest university rankings score among all cities. Tokyo ranked second, driven by a perfect employer activity score, while London continued to lead on student experience with one of the highest student view scores despite its relatively low affordability. Melbourne stood out for its international student mix, whereas Vienna recorded the highest desirability score among the global top 10.
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Outside the top 10, Singapore ranked 11th, Beijing 12th and Kuala Lumpur 15th, highlighting the continued strength of Asia as a global higher education destination.
According to QS, the Best Student Cities rankings are based on 23 indicators grouped under six broad categories: university quality, employer activity, affordability, desirability, student mix and student view. To qualify, a city must have a population of more than 2,50,000 and host at least two universities featured in the QS World University Rankings.