World-ranked universities with the most international students

Out of the 800 universities in the World University Rankings, not one US college appears in the top 30 with the most international students.

September 30 2015

By Carly Minsky

Not one US university in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015-16 has more than 35 per cent international students, contrasting with institutions in Asia, Oceania and Europe.

An analysis of universities in the rankings shows that 16 of the 30 universities with the highest percentage of international students are in the UK, seven are elsewhere in Europe and four are in Australia or New Zealand.

This may well come as a surprise, since the US has long been a popular destination for teenagers looking to study abroad.

The US was home to more than 800,000 foreign students in 2013-14, but it seems that overseas students spread themselves relatively thinly across different institutions.

Foreign students may be outnumbered at institutions within the US, but the US is represented in the top 30 for international students by the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, which has the highest proportion out of all the ranked universities at 82 per cent.

Close behind is the London School of Economics and Political Science in the UK, with 70 per cent. The international community at the LSE currently counts 150 different nationalities among its numbers.

Switzerland has three universities with a high percentage of international students, partly due to bilingual campuses and low tuition fees even for non-European Union nationals.

Percentage of international students at top-200 universities, by country

Of all the 147 American universities ranked in the World University Rankings, not a single institution makes it into the top 30 for international students.

The top American University for international students is Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It sits at position 37 with just under 35 per cent international students.

Imperial College London, with its strengths in science and engineering, is the highest ranked university that appears in the top 30 for international students. It ranks eighth in the world overall, and sixth for percentage of foreign students.

Universities by per cent of international students

Rank	University	Country	% International students
601–800	American University of Sharjah	UAE	82%
23	London School of Economics and Political Science	UK	69.7%
251–300	Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland	Ireland	62.5%
31	École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Switzerland	54.4%
193	University of Luxembourg	Luxembourg	51.7%
8	Imperial College London	UK	50.7%
401–500	City University London	UK	50.1%
88	Maastricht University	Netherlands	47.7%
86	University of St Andrews	UK	46.9%
14	University College London	UK	45.9%
301–350	Macquarie University	Australia	44.1%
601–800	Middlesex University	UK	43.7%
601–800	University of Westminster	UK	43.4%
401–500	Murdoch University	Australia	43.4%
401–500	Heriot-Watt University	UK	43.2%
601–800	Qatar University	Qatar	42%
98	Queen Mary University of London	UK	40.2%
131	University of Geneva	Switzerland	39.1%
301–350	University of Essex	UK	38.9%
301–350	University of Innsbruck	Austria	38.6%
201–250	Birkbeck, University of London	UK	38.4%
601–800	Auckland University of Technology	New Zealand	38.2%
401–500	Curtin University	Australia	37.9%
44	University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong	38%
251–300	University of Surrey	UK	37.7%
401–500	Brunel University London	UK	37.5%
27	King’s College London	UK	37.2%
9	ETH Zurich–Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich	Switzerland	37.1%
129	Royal Holloway, University of London	UK	36.7%
80	University of Warwick	UK	36.6%