Best Student Cities in France

France is home to some of world’s best cities for not only tourists but also students. These cities are not only amazingly beautiful with high lifestyle but also provide every facility and opportunity that a student can possible need. It is recommended by study abroad counselors to select a city instead of whole country as study abroad destination. Every year QS Ranking publishes a list of cities that are best for students to study in coming year. These cities are ranked keeping student’s point of view in consideration. Living conditions, overall university ranks, study and living cost; all are researched about a city and then it is ranked accordingly. Following are the French cities that are always ranked among best cities for students in the world.

1 - Paris

Paris has always been among best cities for international students. It was ranked the 2^nd best student city for international students to study in 2018. Before this, Paris was continuously ranked the Best student city in the world for the last 4 years. It is also referred to as fashion capital of the world. There are a lot of great universities in this city. Highest ranked institution of Paris is ENS Paris. It was ranked 33^rd best university in the world to study in 2018.

Since Paris is home to most universities of its country, one will find a number of flats, apartments and hostels in this city. Universities also offer On campus residence for students. Still, it can be difficult to find an apartment right away particularly in admission days. Paris is one of the most expensive cities in the world to make a living. According to Numbeo, it is about 227 times costlier than Karachi.

Good thing for international students that tuition fees in France is very low. A student needs between US$1,100 to US$1,300 per month to cover all his/ her living expenses including accommodation if they live in university hostels. Moreover, Paris was also ranked 6^th in the world for Employer Activity.

Top Universities of Paris:

1 Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris (ENS Paris)

2 Ecole Polytechnique ParisTech

3 Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC)

4 CentraleSupélec; Université Paris-Sorbonne (ParisIV)

5 Sciences Po Paris

6 Université Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne

7 Université Paris-Sud 11

8 Université Paris Diderot – Paris 7

9 Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan

10 École des Ponts ParisTech

11 Université Paris Dauphine

12 Université Paris Descartes

13 Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris 2)

14 Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense

15 ESCP Europe; ESSEC Business School, Paris

16 HEC Paris

SEE ALSO: Study and Living Cost in France

2 - Lyon

Lyon is also ranked one of the best cities in France for international students. QS Ranking positioned Lyon 34^th best city in the world to study in 2018. There are 5 universities in this city that are always ranked by QS Top Universities. Top ranked institute of Lyon is Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon ranked 177^thglobally to study in in 2018.

This city has a very high quality of life and its cost of living is a lot lower compared to Paris. Lyon is a small city but full of great industries with amazing culture and music praised by international students. Students also enjoy refreshing nightlife in this city because.

Top Universities of Lyon:

1. Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon

2. Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon (INSA)

3. Université Claude Bernard Lyon

4. Université Lumière Lyon

5. Université Jean Moulin Lyon

3 - Toulouse

Toulouse is ranked 3rd best student city of the France and 68^th best in the world to study in 2018. Most of the buildings in this city are built of pink bricks making a beautiful architectural style which gave Toulouse name of “Pink City”. If you love art, you will be glad to know that Toulouse is cultural hub for ballet and Opera. It is also a major center for aerospace.

Toulouse is fourth-largest city in France with every facility available for international students that one would find in Paris. However, only 3 of the universities in Toulouse are ranked by QS Top Universities. Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III was the highest ranked university of Toulouse with a rank between 461-470 in 2017. Toulouse has a very low cost of living compared Paris and Lyon with same quality of high lifestyle.

Top Universities of Toulouse:

1. Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III

2. Université Toulouse 1, Capitole

3. University Toulouse – Jean Jaurès

4 - Montpellier

One of the largest cities in France, Montpellier is very young city with one-third student population. This city is not as ancient as other cities but quite praised for its gorgeous white sand beaches. Montpellier is 4^th best student city of France and ranked 90^th best in world to study in 2018. Compared to Paris and Lyon, Montpellier has very low living cost. Two higher educational institutes in this city were ranked by QS Top Universities in 2017.

Top Universities of Montpellier:

1. Université de Montpellier

2. Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier

5 - Lille

Ranked 97^th in world, Lille is 5^th best student city of France. Lille offers a great environment for all international students with a very diverse culture. It also has a number of great universities even ranked by QS. Lifestyle of Lille is also as amazing as any other of France but the best advantage you get is cost of living here. Tuition fees in whole France are low but living cost in Lille is also very reasonable. Numbeo estimated this city to be 172 percent costlier than Karachi but almost 50 percent cheaper than Paris. There is also never much problem of finding place to live as there are plenty of hostels and flats in this city particularly near universities.