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
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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 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.
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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 | 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% |
Read more: Most international universities in the world 2018: top 200
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.