Quality of living makes Zurich a top student city

Zurich is a top five city when it comes to being a student Keystone

Zurich has tied for fifth place in a global ranking of the top 50 cities for students. The 2013 analysis by British ranking company QS looked at the mix of students, quality of living, employer activity and affordability.

Contrary to its expensive reputation, Zurich scored higher in affordability than the top four cities: Paris, London, Singapore and Sydney.

The cost of tuition for international students was included in this calculation.

But its fifth place counterpart, Melbourne, beat the Swiss city most noticeably for the mix of students.

It was in the quality of living category where Zurich came out on top, scoring 99 out of 100 potential points.

“Thanks to the locally based Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) and the University of Zurich, [the city] could reach 78 points in the university rankings indicator,” said Ben Sowter, head of research at QS.

The rankings only included cities that had a population of over 250,000 and two or more top universities.

This is the second year that the university researcher has published its student cities ranking. Last year, Zurich came in seventh place.