The universities with the highest percentage of international students 2022

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

May 18 2022

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.

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Macau University of Science and Technology is in first place, with 88 per cent international students, while Near East University takes second place.

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

Nineteen 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 63 universities in the top 200, compared with 28 in Australia and 2o from the US.

The top five universities with the highest percentage of international students 2022

Scroll down to see the top 200

1. Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau

Macau University of Science and Technology is a relatively young university, having been established in 2000.

The university is made up of 10 faculties including social sciences, sciences, law, management, business, medicine, pharmacy, tourism, art, communication, and languages.

To reflect its international student cohort, the university teaches programmes in English, Chinese, Portuguese and Spanish.

The university has established partnerships with more than 200 institutions in Europe, America, Australia, Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong to facilitate student and academic exchange programmes.

2. Near East University, Northern Cyprus

Near East University is the largest university in Northern Cyprus. It has 16 faculties with 90 departments.

The university’s International Student Office assists with applications and organises student events on campus.

Students from more than 100 nationalities are enrolled at the university.

3. Jacobs University, Germany

Jacobs University is located in Bremen, Germany.

Most of its courses are taught in English.

Students come from more than 110 countries, including India, Nepal, the US, Albania, Pakistan, Morocco and China.

The university has more than 120 partnerships with other institutions from around the world. Students are either able to choose their own programmes of study from the course catalogue or opt for a pre-selected study track.

4. Eastern Mediterranean University, Northern Cyprus

Eastern Mediterranean University is the second university from Northern Cyprus to feature in the top five.

The main languages of instruction at the university are Turkish and English.

The institution organises student exchange programmes in 13 countries including the US, Canada, Italy, Austria, South Korea and China.

International students are able to apply for 50 per cent and 25 per cent scholarships.

5. American University of Sharjah, UAE

The American University of Sharjah is a relatively small university with just over 5,000 students, and 77 per cent of this student body is international. Some 99 countries are represented on campus, and some of the main home countries of these students are the UAE, Egypt, Jordan and India.

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 a member 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.

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The top 200 universities for international students 2022

International student rank 2022	University	Country/region	Percentage of international students
1	Macau University of Science and Technology	Macao	88.3%
2	Near East University	Northern Cyprus	86.0%
3	Jacobs University	Germany	78.0%
4	Eastern Mediterranean University	Northern Cyprus	77.7%
5	American University of Sharjah	United Arab Emirates	77.4%
6	London School of Economics and Political Science	United Kingdom	72.5%
7	Università della Svizzera italiana	Switzerland	67.0%
8	RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences	Republic of Ireland	65.8%
9	École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne	Switzerland	61.9%
10	University of Sharjah	United Arab Emirates	59.2%
11	Imperial College London	United Kingdom	58.6%
12	Hong Kong Baptist University	Hong Kong	57.7%
13	UCL	United Kingdom	57.2%
14	Federation University Australia	Australia	56.1%
15	City University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong	55.7%
16	Maastricht University	Netherlands	55.3%
17	SOAS University of London	United Kingdom	53.5%
18	University of Nicosia	Cyprus	52.5%
19	University of Luxembourg	Luxembourg	52.3%
20	City, University of London	United Kingdom	50.2%
21	Auckland University of Technology	New Zealand	50.0%
22	University of Westminster	United Kingdom	49.8%
23	University of Melbourne	Australia	49.5%
24	King’s College London	United Kingdom	49.2%
25	Centrale Nantes	France	49.0%
26	University of Bedfordshire	United Kingdom	48.3%
=27	Lincoln University	New Zealand	47.2%
=27	Carnegie Mellon University	United States	47.2%
29	University of St Andrews	United Kingdom	47.0%
=30	Australian National University	Australia	46.6%
=30	University of Sydney	Australia	46.6%
32	Middlesex University	United Kingdom	46.3%
33	Queen Mary University of London	United Kingdom	46.2%
34	Coventry University	United Kingdom	46.1%
=35	Bond University	Australia	45.5%
=35	Monash University	Australia	45.5%
37	École des Ponts ParisTech	France	44.5%
38	University of Edinburgh	United Kingdom	44.2%
39	UNSW Sydney	Australia	44.0%
40	University of Aberdeen	United Kingdom	43.7%
41	Medical University of Innsbruck	Austria	43.5%
42	University of Innsbruck	Austria	43.3%
43	University of Warwick	United Kingdom	43.2%
44	University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong	42.9%
=45	University of Manchester	United Kingdom	42.5%
=45	Illinois Institute of Technology	United States	42.5%
47	University of Oxford	United Kingdom	41.7%
48	Murdoch University	Australia	41.4%
49	The University of Queensland	Australia	41.2%
50	ETH Zurich	Switzerland	40.7%
51	University of Greenwich	United Kingdom	40.6%
52	Institut Polytechnique de Paris	France	40.0%
=53	University of Essex	United Kingdom	39.7%
=53	University of Glasgow	United Kingdom	39.7%
=55	Birkbeck, University of London	United Kingdom	39.5%
=55	IMT Atlantique	France	39.5%
57	La Trobe University	Australia	39.2%
58	Kingston University	United Kingdom	39.0%
59	Anglia Ruskin University ARU	United Kingdom	38.8%
=60	University of Geneva	Switzerland	38.7%
=60	University of Cambridge	United Kingdom	38.7%
62	University of Macau	Macao	37.9%
=63	University of Sheffield	United Kingdom	37.8%
=63	Brunel University London	United Kingdom	37.8%
65	Goldsmiths, University of London	United Kingdom	37.5%
66	University of Sussex	United Kingdom	37.4%
67	Queen’s University Belfast	United Kingdom	37.3%
=68	Sciences Po	France	37.2%
=68	Lancaster University	United Kingdom	37.2%
70	Central Queensland University	Australia	37.1%
=71	University of Twente	Netherlands	36.8%
=71	University of Technology Sydney	Australia	36.8%
73	University of Tasmania	Australia	36.6%
74	University of East London	United Kingdom	36.3%
=75	University of Surrey	United Kingdom	36.1%
77	Flinders University	Australia	36.0%
78	Heriot-Watt University	United Kingdom	35.9%
=79	University of Rochester	United States	35.8%
81	Royal Holloway, University of London	United Kingdom	35.7%
82	Northeastern University	United States	35.6%
=83	University of Southampton	United Kingdom	35.5%
=83	Qatar University	Qatar	35.5%
=85	Columbia University	United States	35.4%
=85	Universitat Internacional de Catalunya	Spain	35.4%
87	New York University	United States	35.2%
88	The New School	United States	34.8%
89	University of Liverpool	United Kingdom	34.7%
90	RMIT University	Australia	34.3%
=91	Stevens Institute of Technology	United States	34.1%
=91	University of Bath	United Kingdom	34.1%
=93	California Institute of Technology	United States	33.8%
=93	Iuliu Haţieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca	Romania	33.8%
96	Alfaisal University	Saudi Arabia	33.5%
=97	London South Bank University	United Kingdom	33.4%
=97	University of British Columbia	Canada	33.4%
=97	The University of Chicago	United States	33.4%
=97	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	United States	33.4%
101	Technical University of Munich	Germany	33.3%
102	Semmelweis University	Hungary	33.1%
103	University of St Gallen	Switzerland	33.0%
104	Durham University	United Kingdom	32.9%
=105	De Montfort University	United Kingdom	32.8%
=105	University of Waikato	New Zealand	32.8%
107	Concordia University	Canada	32.7%
108	Trinity College Dublin	Republic of Ireland	32.5%
=109	Curtin University	Australia	32.4%
=109	University of Auckland	New Zealand	32.4%
111	Edinburgh Napier University	United Kingdom	32.2%
=112	University of Birmingham	United Kingdom	32.1%
=112	University of Adelaide	Australia	32.1%
114	University of Leeds	United Kingdom	32.0%
115	European University of Madrid	Spain	31.9%
117	McGill University	Canada	31.7%
118	Massey University	New Zealand	31.6%
=119	Victoria University	Australia	31.4%
=119	University of Hertfordshire	United Kingdom	31.4%
=119	Delft University of Technology	Netherlands	31.4%
122	Southern Cross University	Australia	31.3%
=123	Université Libre de Bruxelles	Belgium	31.2%
=123	University of Reading	United Kingdom	31.2%
125	Simon Fraser University	Canada	31.0%
=126	Jinan University	China	30.9%
=126	University of Roehampton	United Kingdom	30.9%
128	University College Dublin	Republic of Ireland	30.8%
=129	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology	Hong Kong	30.7%
=129	University of Leicester	United Kingdom	30.7%
=131	The University of Western Australia	Australia	30.5%
=131	Universiti Utara Malaysia	Malaysia	30.5%
=131	University of Basel	Switzerland	30.5%
=134	University of Nottingham	United Kingdom	30.4%
=136	TU Wien	Austria	30.2%
=136	Medical University of Vienna	Austria	30.2%
=136	Florida Institute of Technology	United States	30.2%
139	University of Wollongong	Australia	30.0%
141	University of Kent	United Kingdom	29.8%
142	University of Bristol	United Kingdom	29.7%
143	Macquarie University	Australia	29.6%
144	University of Canberra	Australia	29.5%
=145	Boston University	United States	29.4%
=145	Edith Cowan University	Australia	29.4%
=147	University of California, San Diego	United States	29.3%
=147	Hong Kong Polytechnic University	Hong Kong	29.3%
=149	Swinburne University of Technology	Australia	28.8%
=149	University of Amsterdam	Netherlands	28.8%
151	Riga Stradiņš University	Latvia	28.7%
=152	University of Vienna	Austria	28.5%
=152	Deakin University	Australia	28.5%
=154	Brandeis University	United States	28.3%
=154	National Institute of Applied Sciences of Lyon (INSA Lyon)	France	28.3%
=156	University of Bradford	United Kingdom	28.2%
=158	Charles Darwin University	Australia	28.0%
=158	Dalhousie University	Canada	28.0%
=160	Rice University	United States	27.8%
=160	University of Exeter	United Kingdom	27.8%
=162	University of California, Irvine	United States	27.7%
=162	Johns Hopkins University	United States	27.7%
=162	University of Alberta	Canada	27.7%
=165	University of Windsor	Canada	27.6%
=165	Cardiff University	United Kingdom	27.6%
167	Technical University of Berlin	Germany	27.4%
=168	University of Strathclyde	United Kingdom	27.2%
=168	Loughborough University	United Kingdom	27.2%
170	University of Portsmouth	United Kingdom	27.0%
=171	York University	Canada	26.8%
=171	Newcastle University	United Kingdom	26.8%
=173	Wageningen University & Research	Netherlands	26.6%
=175	University of Groningen	Netherlands	26.5%
=175	Charles Sturt University	Australia	26.5%
=175	V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University	Ukraine	26.5%
=178	Reichman University	Israel	26.4%
=178	Medical University of Graz	Austria	26.4%
180	University of Huddersfield	United Kingdom	26.2%
=181	University of Navarra	Spain	26.1%
=181	New Jersey Institute of Technology	United States	26.1%
=183	University of Stirling	United Kingdom	26.0%
=183	Ilmenau University of Technology	Germany	26.0%
185	University of East Anglia	United Kingdom	25.8%
186	University of York	United Kingdom	25.7%
187	Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy	Romania	25.6%
188	University of Klagenfurt	Austria	25.5%
=189	Universiti Putra Malaysia	Malaysia	25.3%
=189	Kyung Hee University	South Korea	25.3%
=189	National University of Singapore	Singapore	25.3%
=192	Royal Veterinary College	United Kingdom	25.1%
=192	CY Cergy Paris University	France	25.1%
=194	Oxford Brookes University	United Kingdom	25.0%
=194	Cornell University	United States	25.0%
=196	University of Mannheim	Germany	24.8%
=196	University of Canterbury	New Zealand	24.8%
=196	Copenhagen Business School	Denmark	24.8%
=199	RWTH Aachen University	Germany	24.7%
=199	Chinese University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong	24.7%
=199	Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris	France	24.7%

Editors note: As part of our THE statement on Ukraine published on 2 March 2022, Russian universities have been given less prominence in our rankings. Russian universities that met the criteria for this ranking are not displayed in the table above.