Paris ranked world’s best city for students

Paris has been ranked the best city in the world for students, according to a UK study, although some French undergraduates felt the results were wide of the mark.

Researchers at QS Best Student Cities looked at quality of life and affordability in terms of fees and living costs, as well as the number of institutions and their overall reputations among employers.

QS has been ranking individual universities since 2004, although this is the first time their researchers took the cities into account.

Cambridge in the UK and Harvard in the US (Boston) have consistently come out first, but the 2012 city survey placed Paris top, with London ranking second and Boston third.

QS Head of Research Ben Sowter said: “Paris has always been one of the world’s most important centres of higher education, but its [individual] universities have under-performed in international rankings.”

Sowter explained that under the new ranking system, the generally good standard of Paris’s many universities had improved the French capital’s status as a student city.

“Excellence has in the past been spread across numerous institutions rather than concentrated in large comprehensive universities,” he said. “This is one of the reasons for the vast improvement in its performance in this city-wide ranking”.

But where Paris beats its nearest rivals hands down is in student fees, at an average of 1,700 euros. Undergraduates in Paris who are from France pay from nothing (if they are from low-income households) to just 500 euros a year.

Studying in London meanwhile costs an average of 15,800 euros (with international fees factored in), while in Boston a year’s tuition will set students back an eye-watering 30,000 euros.

Sceptical students

What do the students think?

A handful of Paris students canvassed by FRANCE 24 were sceptical of the survey’s value – saying that while the French capital is a pleasant place to study, state universities do not offer the best work prospects compared with other countries.

Sorbonne literature student Astrid, 22, said that while there were advantages in low fees “we students are just numbers in the system – we work hard but there is little personal attention and the employment prospects are not great.”

He friend Isaure, 22, added that while she wanted to do her studies in France “because I’m French”, she felt that undergraduates in London and Boston finished their courses better armed for the job market.

She wondered if employment prospects were not the most important criteria for the study: “Yes the fees are much lower, but if you want to get ahead in terms of my employment, you have to go to one of the ‘Grande Ecoles’ [which are outside of the French University framework and select students based on competitive written and oral exams].

“The competition to get in is very tough and the fees are extremely high. And whatever you say about Paris, living here is not cheap.”

Sowter told FRANCE 24 that his research team had looked at the amount of employer activity in each city, rather than how employment relates to local graduates, and that adjustments would be made for future studies.

“We also recognise that France’s two-tier higher education system causes complications,” he said. “And in terms of employability the study focussed on international students, so we looked at international recruitment in each city.

“This will be taken into account in future research and we will also be canvassing the students themselves.”