International student table 2018: top 200 universities

Explore the universities with the highest percentage of international students based on data collected by Times Higher Education

May 16 2018

The higher education world is getting smaller as more and more students are choosing to study abroad. Students are looking to universities to provide an international experience, the opportunity to study alongside people from all over the world, and to give them a truly global community in which to study.

As part of the data collected for the World University Rankings,Times Higher Education asks all institutions to provide figures on their proportion of international students. Using these data, THE has compiled a list of the top 200 universities with the most international students.

The American University of Sharjah is in first place, with nearly 84 per cent international students, while LSE takes second place.

Countries represented in the top 20 include the UAE, UK, Ireland, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Australia.

Sixteen universities from London feature in the top 200, making it one of the most represented cities in the ranking. In fact, the UK as a whole was the most represented country with 72 universities in the top 200, compared with 27 from the US and 22 in Australia.

The top five universities with the highest percentage of international students 2018

Scroll down to see the top 200

1. American University of Sharjah, UAE

The American University of Sharjah is a relatively small university with just over 5,000 students, and 84 per cent of this student body is made up of international students. Some 99 countries are represented on campus, and some of the main home countries of these students are the UAE, Egypt, Jordan and India.

According to Linda C. Angell, director of international exchange programmes at AUS, the institution welcomes 80 to 100 study abroad students every year and “these students consistently report they have had an excellent experience here”.

Dr Angell believes that the university has a high proportion of international students because of its central location, making international travel easy, and its proximity to cosmopolitan Dubai and culturally rich Sharjah.

English is the main teaching language and the university offers 26 majors and 45 minors at undergraduate level, and 13 master’s degree programmes.

The university is part of the Association of American International Colleges and Universities, an organisation that delivers higher education based on the American liberal arts model outside the US.

International perspective: an American in the UAE

2. LSE, London

LSE is a world-renowned hub for international students, with students from more than 140 countries. It has international partnerships with Columbia University in New York, Sciences Po in Paris, Peking University in Beijing, the National University of Singapore and the University of Cape Town, to name a few.

LSE has ranked in the top 30 universities in the world for the past five years and is highly regarded globally as a social science university specialising in a wide range of disciplines, including economics, politics, sociology, law and anthropology.

Alumni from LSE come from almost 200 countries, and include 16 Nobel prizewinners and 37 past or present world leaders.

Canadian student Matt Campbell said that he has made friends with students from dozens of countries. “Having such an international peer group at LSE has been a great advantage (not to mention great fun). Perhaps what unites us most is the great British tradition of getting together with colleagues at the end of the week for pints at the pub,” he said.

LSE students speak to THE about studying in London

3. Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland is the oldest university in the top five, having been established in 1784.

The university provides a comprehensive education within medicine, pharmacy and physiotherapy. The university is relatively small, one with just over 2,000 enrolled students, and about 62 per cent of these are classed as international students. At the Dublin campus, the students come from approximately 70 nations.

The college provides undergraduate courses as well as postgraduate education and professional training. The university also has a well-renowned research institute.

The university strengthens its international ties by encouraging students to take part in volunteer activities in developing countries and by developing a strong presence in Malaysia, Bahrain and Dubai, with plans to grow even further internationally.

In 1886, the university was the first to have a female medical graduate.

International perspective: a Canadian in Ireland

4. University of Sharjah, UAE

The University of Sharjah was established in 1997 as a private, national, co-educational university situated in University City in the UAE.

Since its inception, it has expanded to include 14 colleges and 86 diverse academic programmes.

The university is rooted in Islamic and Arabic tradition but also aims to “learn from an international perspective”. Courses at the university are linked through agreements with universities in Australia, Canada, Japan, the UK and the US, and the university accepts many visiting international students.

The university is a new entry into this table, as this is the first time that it has been included in the World University Rankings.

5. University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg

The University of Luxembourg aims to provide a multilingual learning experience, with many of the degree programmes delivered in French and either English or German. Master’s degrees are taught entirely in English. This reflects the high percentage of international students, with 57 per cent from elsewhere in Europe and beyond.

A semester abroad is compulsory for all undergraduate students and many exchange opportunities are also available for master’s and PhD students. Joint supervision of theses may also be possible in collaboration with a university abroad.

Heidi Flinkman, a Finnish student studying at the University of Luxembourg, initially went to the institution as an exchange student, but enjoyed it so much that she decided to stay and complete her degree there. “As the university is highly international, there are students and staff from many countries and linguistic backgrounds, so it is easy to feel at home,” she said.

My experience as an international student at the University of Luxembourg

Resources for international students

Cheapest UK universities for international students: tuition fees survey
Survival guide for international students: your first 168 hours in the United States
A guide to university rankings for international students
Top 10 scenic locations to study abroad
Five reasons why you should study in China
How to write a US college admissions essay
Applying through Ucas as an international student
A guide to UK tuition fees and student visas
A guide for international students choosing a university in Australia

The top 200 universities for international students 2018

International Student rank 2018	International Student rank 2017	University	Country/Region	Percentage of international students
1	1	American University of Sharjah	United Arab Emirates	83.8%
2	3	London School of Economics and Political Science	United Kingdom	70.5%
3	4	Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland	Ireland	63.5%
4	NR	University of Sharjah	United Arab Emirates	60.8%
5	5	University of Luxembourg	Luxembourg	57.4%
6	6	Soas, University of London	United Kingdom	56.0%
7	8	Imperial College London	United Kingdom	55.4%
8	7	École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Switzerland	54.8%
9	9	City, University of London	United Kingdom	53.0%
10	11	Maastricht University (UM)	Netherlands	49.9%
11	10	UCL	United Kingdom	48.8%
12	14	Murdoch University	Australia	47.8%
13	12	University of St Andrews	United Kingdom	47.5%
14	13	University of Westminster	United Kingdom	45.7%
15	=15	Middlesex University	United Kingdom	45.6%
16	21	Coventry University	United Kingdom	45.1%
17	NR	Sciences Po	France	44.9%
18	20	Queen Mary University of London	United Kingdom	44.8%
19	=31	Carnegie Mellon University	United States	44.6%
20	=15	University of Essex	United Kingdom	42.8%
21	18	Qatar University	Qatar	42.4%
22	25	University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong	41.9%
23	23	Auckland University of Technology	New Zealand	41.8%
24	17	École des Ponts ParisTech	France	41.5%
25	61	University of South Australia	Australia	41.4%
26	19	Heriot-Watt University	United Kingdom	41.0%
27	=28	King's College London	United Kingdom	40.9%
28	24	Brunel University London	United Kingdom	40.8%
29	=28	Royal Holloway, University of London	United Kingdom	40.3%
30	36	University of Edinburgh	United Kingdom	40.2%
31	37	University of Melbourne	Australia	39.9%
32	22	University of Geneva	Switzerland	39.8%
33	42	Bond University	Australia	39.2%
34	26	University of Innsbruck	Austria	39.0%
=35	=28	Birkbeck, University of London	United Kingdom	38.9%
=35	=31	University of Warwick	United Kingdom	38.9%
37	40	University of Manchester	United Kingdom	38.4%
38	47	University of Oxford	United Kingdom	38.3%
39	48	University of Sussex	United Kingdom	37.9%
40	=44	Lancaster University	United Kingdom	37.7%
41	35	ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich	Switzerland	37.6%
42	=31	University of Surrey	United Kingdom	37.5%
42	41	University of Leicester	United Kingdom	37.5%
44	=38	Curtin University	Australia	37.0%
=45	34	Goldsmiths, University of London	United Kingdom	36.8%
=45	46	University of Technology, Sydney	Australia	36.8%
47	=64	University of Aberdeen	United Kingdom	36.3%
48	=64	University of Glasgow	United Kingdom	35.9%
=49	74	École Polytechnique	France	35.8%
=49	60	University of Sheffield	United Kingdom	35.8%
51	43	Kingston University	United Kingdom	35.6%
52	49	University of Cambridge	United Kingdom	35.5%
53	80	City University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong	35.4%
54	=54	University of Liverpool	United Kingdom	35.3%
55	=50	Stevens Institute of Technology	United States	35.2%
=56	=44	Australian National University	Australia	35.1%
=56	78	Florida Institute of Technology	United States	35.1%
=56	71	Université Libre de Bruxelles	Belgium	35.1%
59	56	University of Greenwich	United Kingdom	34.9%
60	=50	University of St Gallen	Switzerland	34.8%
61	=54	London South Bank University	United Kingdom	34.6%
62	63	Alfaisal University	Saudi Arabia	34.1%
63	57	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	United States	33.9%
=64	160	Lincoln University	New Zealand	33.7%
=64	=64	University of New South Wales	Australia	33.7%
=66	62	University of Macau	Macau	33.4%
=66	75	University of Southampton	United Kingdom	33.4%
=68	69	CentraleSupélec	France	32.9%
=68	59	University of East London	United Kingdom	32.9%
70	81	University of Reading	United Kingdom	32.5%
=71	76	University of Bath	United Kingdom	32.4%
=71	73	Edinburgh Napier University	United Kingdom	32.4%
73	=131	Charles Darwin University	Australia	32.2%
74	=172	Khalifa University of Science and Technology	United Arab Emirates	32.0%
75	=64	Queen's University Belfast	United Kingdom	31.9%
=76	58	University of Bedfordshire	United Kingdom	31.8%
=76	=86	University of Sydney	Australia	31.8%
=78	77	Columbia University	United States	31.7%
=78	53	RUDN University	Russian Federation	31.7%
80	91	Northeastern University	United States	31.6%
81	27	Hong Kong University of Science and Technology	Hong Kong	31.5%
82	72	Aston University	United Kingdom	31.2%
=83	85	University of Kent	United Kingdom	30.8%
=83	70	Nanyang Technological University, Singapore	Singapore	30.8%
85	110	Chinese University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong	30.7%
86	=128	Semmelweis University	Hungary	30.6%
87	=64	National University of Singapore	Singapore	30.5%
88	94	University of East Anglia	United Kingdom	30.4%
88	79	National Institute of Applied Sciences Lyon (INSA Lyon)	France	30.4%
90	96	University of Nottingham	United Kingdom	30.1%
91	82	University of Bradford	United Kingdom	30.0%
=92	=86	Hong Kong Baptist University	Hong Kong	29.6%
=92	=89	Newcastle University	United Kingdom	29.6%
94	83	Simon Fraser University	Canada	29.5%
=95	84	University of Auckland	New Zealand	29.2%
=95	=161	Wageningen University & Research	Netherlands	29.2%
=97	=89	Massey University	New Zealand	29.1%
=97	93	University of Rochester	United States	29.1%
=99	95	Central Queensland University	Australia	29.0%
=99	NR	Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy	Romania	29.0%
101	112	Durham University	United Kingdom	28.8%
102	88	University of British Columbia	Canada	28.6%
=103	=177	Chung-Ang University	South Korea	28.3%
=103	=101	Oxford Brookes University	United Kingdom	28.3%
=105	=98	University of Hertfordshire	United Kingdom	28.2%
=105	=153	University of Roehampton	United Kingdom	28.2%
=107	92	University of Canberra	Australia	28.1%
=107	NR	Medical University of Vienna	Austria	28.1%
=107	=121	Monash University	Australia	28.1%
110	103	University of Exeter	United Kingdom	28.0%
111	=106	Vienna University of Technology	Austria	27.9%
112	=101	Rice University	United States	27.8%
113	=104	Concordia University	Canada	27.7%
=114	=121	University of Birmingham	United Kingdom	27.4%
=114	=133	Trinity College Dublin	Ireland	27.4%
=116	109	California Institute of Technology	United States	27.3%
=116	=133	Delft University of Technology	Netherlands	27.3%
=116	=167	University of Strathclyde	United Kingdom	27.3%
=116	=128	V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University	Ukraine	27.3%
120	=136	University of Bristol	United Kingdom	27.2%
121	=136	University of Portsmouth	United Kingdom	27.1%
122	116	Georgia Institute of Technology	United States	27.0%
123	117	University of Waikato	New Zealand	26.8%
=124	151	University of Basel	Switzerland	26.7%
=124	97	University of Twente	Netherlands	26.7%
=124	111	University of York	United Kingdom	26.7%
=127	=133	Cardiff University	United Kingdom	26.5%
=127	127	La Trobe University	Australia	26.5%
=129	=131	New York University	United States	26.4%
=129	=98	United Arab Emirates University	United Arab Emirates	26.4%
=129	=121	University College Dublin	Ireland	26.4%
=129	=113	University of Huddersfield	United Kingdom	26.4%
133	= 121	Clark University	United States	26.3%
=134	=172	University of Leeds	United Kingdom	26.2%
=134	152	National Taiwan Normal University	Taiwan	26.2%
=134	=128	University Of Queensland	Australia	26.2%
137	=104	University of Adelaide	Australia	26.1%
138	120	University of Vienna	Austria	26.0%
139	=136	Harvard University	United States	25.9%
=140	140	Dublin Institute of Technology	Ireland	25.8%
=140	141	McGill University	Canada	25.8%
142	=177	University of Salford	United Kingdom	25.6%
143	143	University of Alberta	Canada	25.5%
144	108	University of Western Australia	Australia	25.4%
=145	NR	Paris Sciences & Lettres - PSL University	France	25.3%
=145	119	RMIT University	Australia	25.3%
=147	=148	University of Chicago	United States	25.2%
=147	=121	Anglia Ruskin University	United Kingdom	25.2%
=149	=153	De Montfort University	United Kingdom	25.1%
=149	118	Jinan University	China	25.1%
151	139	University of Texas at Dallas	United States	25.0%
=152	=106	Swinburne University of Technology	Australia	24.9%
=152	=113	University of Tulsa	United States	24.9%
=152	= 180	Bangor University	United Kingdom	24.9%
=152	NR	Boston University	United States	24.9%
156	147	University of Lausanne	Switzerland	24.7%
=157	=163	Brandeis University	United States	24.6%
=157	=121	Hong Kong Polytechnic University	Hong Kong	24.6%
=159	=144	University of Dundee	United Kingdom	24.4%
=159	146	Stony Brook University	United States	24.4%
=159	NR	Technical University of Denmark	Denmark	24.4%
162	NR	National University of Science and Technology (MISiS)	Russian Federation	24.3%
=163	=144	Johns Hopkins University	United States	24.1%
=163	=148	University of Wollongong	Australia	24.1%
165	NR	Cornell University	United States	24.0%
166	194	Tomsk Polytechnic University	Russian Federation	23.8%
=167	156	Princeton University	United States	23.7%
=167	=161	Robert Gordon University	United Kingdom	23.7%
169	=182	Swansea University	United Kingdom	23.6%
=170	NR	University of Technology of Compiègne	France	23.5%
=170	NR	Edith Cowan University	Australia	23.5%
172	165	Purdue University	United States	23.4%
173	=158	University of Liège	Belgium	23.1%
174	=167	York University	Canada	22.9%
=175	=172	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	United States	22.8%
=175	=163	University of Southern California	United States	22.8%
=177	NR	University of Côte d'Azur	France	22.7%
=177	=175	Technical University of Munich	Germany	22.7%
179	NR	Medical University of Graz	Austria	22.6%
=180	=182	Copenhagen Business School	Denmark	22.5%
=180	=175	Keele University	United Kingdom	22.5%
=180	166	University of Neuchâtel	Switzerland	22.5%
=183	=191	University of Brighton	United Kingdom	22.4%
=183	=167	Stanford University	United States	22.4%
185	=158	École Centrale de Lyon	France	22.3%
=186	155	American University of Beirut	Lebanon	22.1%
=186	=148	Macquarie University	Australia	22.1%
188	142	University of Montreal	Canada	22.0%
189	NR	Tomsk State University	Russian Federation	21.9%
=190	=182	Norwegian University of Life Sciences	Norway	21.8%
=190	NR	University of Tasmania	Australia	21.8%
=192	NR	Duke University	United States	21.7%
=192	170	Loughborough University	United Kingdom	21.7%
194	=98	Universiti Teknologi Petronas	Malaysia	21.6%
=195	NR	University of Alcalá	Spain	21.5%
=195	=191	Lomonosov Moscow State University	Russian Federation	21.5%
197	=188	Yale University	United States	21.4%
198	199	University of Stirling	United Kingdom	21.3%
199	=188	King Abdulaziz University	Saudi Arabia	21.1%
200	NR	University of Canterbury	New Zealand	21.0%

Editor's note: Eastern Mediterranean University has been omitted from this table, due to changes in their classifications of international students. During previous rankings data collections students from Turkey were classified as domestic, but during the recent round of data collection students from Turkey have now been classified as international.

Reader's comments (1)

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