Delhi Named World’s Most Affordable Student City in QS Best Student Cities 2027; Mumbai Tops Indian Rankings

Delhi has been recognised as the world’s most affordable destination for students in the QS Best Student Cities 2027 rankings, while Mumbai emerged as India’s highest-ranked student city by climbing to 91st place globally.

Released on Wednesday by global higher education analytics firm QS Quacquarelli Symonds, the annual rankings evaluate 150 cities worldwide based on six key parameters: university quality, employer activity, affordability, desirability, student mix and student view.

Globally, Seoul retained the top position with a perfect overall score of 100, followed by Tokyo in second and London in third. Melbourne secured fourth place, while Munich and Sydney shared the fifth spot. The global top 10 also featured Paris, Berlin, Vienna and Zurich, with Singapore, Beijing and Kuala Lumpur ranking just outside the top 10.

Among Indian cities, Mumbai improved seven places from 98th to 91st, becoming the country’s best-performing student destination with an overall score of 61.8. The city performed particularly well in employer activity and affordability, ranking 34th and 12th globally in those categories, respectively.

Delhi entered the global top 100 by moving up from 104th to 99th place with an overall score of 60.3. The national capital earned the highest affordability score worldwide (93.9), making it the most affordable city for students globally. According to QS, the average annual tuition fee for international students in Delhi is around US$2,700 (approximately ₹2.6 lakh). Delhi also ranked 29th globally in employer activity, highlighting strong career opportunities for graduates.

Bengaluru slipped six positions to joint 114th with an overall score of 56.0. QS attributed part of the decline to comparatively higher international tuition fees, averaging around US$5,400 annually, the highest among the four Indian cities included in the rankings.

Meanwhile, Chennai recorded a modest improvement, climbing from 128th to 123rd place with an overall score of 54.0.

World’s Top 10 Student Cities 2027

1. Seoul, South Korea
2. Tokyo, Japan
3. London, United Kingdom
4. Melbourne, Australia
5. Munich, Germany (Joint)
6. Sydney, Australia (Joint)
7. Paris, France
8. Berlin, Germany
9. Vienna, Austria
10. Zurich, Switzerland

QS stated that the Best Student Cities rankings are based on 23 performance indicators grouped under six broad categories: university quality, employer activity, affordability, desirability, student mix and student view. To qualify, a city must have a population exceeding 250,000 and host at least two universities featured in the QS World University Rankings.

Source: Indian Express