New Zealand’s largest city places 22nd in the QS Best Student Cities 2015, driven by a very high score for “student mix” – thanks to its large and diverse student community combined with an inclusive and tolerant culture.
Other high scores for Auckland come in the categories “desirability” (overall quality of life) and “employer activity” (the reputation of the city’s universities among graduate recruiters). New Zealand has been ranked as the least corrupt nation in the world (joint with Denmark), and Auckland also takes a place within the top 10 of The Economist’s Global Liveability Ranking. The downside to all this is a relatively low score for “affordability”, due to comparatively high tuition fees and living costs. But don’t let this dissuade you; the city has lots to offer in return!
Auckland is well known for its multicultural diversity, and (like most of New Zealand), for the wide range of adrenaline-fuelled activities on offer in and around the local area – climbing, jet-skiing, diving, snowboarding, sailing, canyoning, surfing – pretty much anything you can think of. This is definitely a good choice for any students who like to unwind by exploring the great outdoors! There’s also plenty of culture on offer, from classical music to the huge annual Pasifika Festival.
As for the universities, Auckland has two representatives in the QS World University Rankings® 2014/15, the highest-ranked of which is the University of Auckland at 92nd in the world.
QS ranked universities
The University of Auckland ; Auckland University of Technology
More about Auckland
Number of universities ranked by QS
| 2
|
Top ranked institution
| The University of Auckland (92nd in the world)
|
Population
| 1,530,000
|
Students (% of total population)
| 3.0% (based on ranked institutions)
|
International students
| 30.0% (of students at ranked institutions)
|
Average tuition fees
| US$22,000
|
Global Liveability Ranking
| 10th (out of 140)
|
Mercer Cost of Living rank
| 58th (out of 214)
|
Cost of a Big Mac
| US$4.94
|
Cost of an iPad
| US$650.91
|
Numbeo safety rank
| 220th (out of 372)
|
Numbeo pollution rank
| 262nd (out of 299)
|
Transparency International score
| 1st (out of 177) |