There are over one million international students studying at American colleges today. Together, they contribute an estimated $40 billion annually to the economy. But not every city is created equal when it comes to international scholarship. Some places are more welcoming and offer advantages that make them more attractive.
CommercialCafe has released rankings of the Top 10 U.S. Cities for International Students. The website looked at social environment and level of community support, affordability, commuting, and fun/recreation.
“…We focused on cities with at least one top-250 university globally. Furthermore, recognizing the challenge of comparing mega-cities like New York City with smaller, close-knit student communities, we divided the ranking into cities exceeding 500,000 residents and cities below that mark,” according to the report.
Two California cities made the list: Los Angeles (#4) and San Francisco (#9).
Los Angeles came in 2nd place for the average public transit fare metric, thanks to the average metro ride price of $1.70. San Francisco ranked 2nd in the support establishments density metric, with some 153 educational support services for every 100,000 undergraduates. It took the 3rd spot in the community and support category.
Top 10 U.S. Cities for International Students
Washington, D.C.
Boston, MA
Houston, TX
Los Angeles, CA
Philadelphia, PA
Seattle, WA
New York City, NY
Charlotte, NC
San Francisco, CA
Baltimore, MD
List and data were compiled by CommercialCafe and do not reflect statistics on all cities.