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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
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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 RankingsTimes 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.


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