This month, Global Citizen Solutions released its first-ever Global Education Report naming the top destinations for higher education. The 10 countries were ranked based on factors like university prestige, quality of life, visa options, and post-graduation opportunities.
The Global Citizen Solutions report shows that international higher education is growing, Laura Madrid, research lead in the Global Intelligence Unit at GCS, tells CNBC Make It. According to their findings, there should be 10 million students studying abroad by 2030.
“You have more instability and instability in general leads to the movement of families,” she says. “People look for places where they feel safer and they can experience different contexts.”
The report evaluated over 72 countries, using five key sub indexes:
- Higher education systems
- Quality of life
- Higher education costs
- Career prospects
- Innovation and business friendliness
The United States is the No. 1 global destination for higher education
The United States took the top spot on the GSC ranking of the best global destination for higher education.
According to the report, the number of international students still remains highly concentrated in English-speaking and economically developed nations.
The U.S. has 900,000 international students, according to the report, and in 2023, they helped generate over $40 billion in revenue.
Madrid said it’s not surprising that the U.S. came in first on the list, because of the number of prestigious universities and the sheer volume of higher education institutions there. “When you look at families that want to invest and the cost is not an issue, they will prefer to look at the U.S. and the UK,” she says.
“But on the other hand, we see American families looking to other countries for universities,” Madrid adds. “We see that families for different reasons, [whether it’s] political stability or the possibility of a more multinational and multicultural higher education, are looking in Europe.”
The United States is one of the most expensive countries for higher education. Tuition at private schools like Harvard and Stanford range from $30,000 to $70,000 a school year— and that doesn’t include the cost of living in or near major cities like Boston and Palo Alto.
Harvard University
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From 2010 to 2023, tuition at public four-year institutions increased by 36.7% and as of 2024, the total student loan debt in the country exceeds $1.6 trillion, according to the GSC report.
The United States is also home to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, and Yale.
The top 10 global destinations for higher education
- United States
- United Kingdom
- Australia
- Germany
- Canada
- France
- Netherlands
- Switzerland
- China
- Singapore
The United Kingdom — England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland — came in at no. 2 on the list. The country has around 500,000 international students studying there.
According to the report, the UK remains one of the world’s most sought-after destinations for international students thanks to the prestige at schools like Oxford, Imperial College of London and Cambridge.
The UK saw less European students apply for universities in 2020: “You have this great ecosystem of universities, but Brexit changed the profile of international students,” Madrid says.
The country was able to switch strategies and bring in more students from places like China and India.
“The UK had to balance the loss of leaving the European Union and attracting students from other countries,” she adds.
Oxford University
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Just like in the U.S., studying in the UK is costly. International students can expect tuition fees ranging from £10,000 to £38,000 or $12,000 to $47,000 USD per year.
Students there also face an average loan debt of about £50,000, or $63,000, upon graduation.
The cost of living in a city like London is also among the highest in Europe. A single person’s estimated monthly costs are £1,039, or $1,313, rent not included, according to Numbeo.
But despite the high cost of living, the report found that international students remain an economic force, contributing around £41.9 billion, or $53 billion, to the UK economy in 2021-2022.
The UK is also home to universities like The University of Edinburgh, The University of Glasgow and the University of St. Andrews.
Conversions to USD were done on February 24, 2024, using OANDA conversion rates of 1 British pound to 1.26 USD. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.
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