Melbourne named as second best city in the world to study

Melbourne has been ranked the second best city in the world for students, while Sydney is not far behind in fourth in a new guide to universities for students looking to study overseas. It means that Australian universities are highly regarded in the eyes of international students with another four Australian cities, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth also on the QS Top University’s Top 50 Best Student Cities for 2015 list. Melbourne overtakes Sydney to become the leading student city in Australia, and overall there are seven universities in Melbourne featured within the QS World University Rankings for 2014/2015. Paris is top. Known as Australia’s cultural capital, Melbourne has been repeatedly ranked as one of the world’s most liveable cities, and is full of all the attractions that make the Australian lifestyle so appealing including beautiful beaches, nightlife and a fair proportion of sunny days. Melbourne’s range of museums is described as world class and the citys cultural calendar is full all year round. There is also a world famous annual comedy festival, rooftop bars, chic cafes and trendy restaurants serving world cuisine. Within the QS Best Student Cities ranking, Melbourne boasts the highest score in the student mix category, which is calculated based on the relative size and diversity of each citys student population, as well as levels of social inclusion and tolerance. Melbourne also scores very highly in the employer activity and desirability, categories which respectively look at the city’s institutions from the point of view of employers and the overall quality of living to be had in the city. The only factor that Australian cities tend to stumble on is affordability, due to relatively high tuition fees and high living costs, and this applies to Melbourne alongside other Australian cities. But the guide says that for high standards of living and incredible natural surroundings, Melbourne is a tough city to beat. Greek student, Vaggelis Tsirapidis explained that he arrived in Australia last year on a student visa to study for a bachelor of commerce at Deakin University, and says a number of factors pushed him to decide to study in Melbourne. An avid long distance swimmer, the opportunity to do what he loves and study at a world renowned universities were huge deciding factors. “If you check online of the world rankings of universities, you can see that Melbourne and in general Australian universities are really highly ranked,” he said. The only down side he has found is that international students can only work a maximum of 20 hours per week, and he says this is not enough to meet the high cost of living and university fees. He reckons it costs him over $24,000 a year to study. Applications for higher education visas have increased by 19.7% since the last financial year, with the highest number of applications coming from China. Together with Indian students, they represent 32% of all student visa applications. http://www.australiaforum.com/information/education/melbourne-named-as-second-best-city-in-the-world-to-study.html