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Most international universities in the world 2024

Explore the most international universities in the world using data from the Times Higher Education World University Rankings

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  • Study abroad
January 24 2024

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The most international universities in the world 2024

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Most international rank 2024 Most international rank 2023 World University rank 2024 University Country/region
1 4 82 City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
2 NR 251-300 Abu Dhabi University United Arab Emirates
3 8 1 University of Oxford United Kingdom
4 9 5 University of Cambridge United Kingdom
5 7 8 Imperial College London United Kingdom
6 1 35 University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
7 3 11 ETH Zurich Switzerland
8 2 33 École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Switzerland
9 5 =64 The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong
10 6 =87 Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong

Prospective students who wish to study in the most international environments in the world should apply to universities in Switzerland, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates or the UK.

Universities, by their nature, are global institutions. Typically, they are home to communities of students and scholars from all over the world, and they tackle some of the globe’s most pressing problems through research.

This table – compiled using the international student score, the international staff score, the international co-authorship score and the international reputation metrics collected for the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024 – shows that the above four countries and regions are home to some of the most international universities in the world.

These institutions all have a high proportion of international students and staff, collaborate on research with scholars from across the world, and have a strong global reputation to match. Read the full methodology at the bottom of the page.

Research suggests that diverse communities of students improve the teaching and learning experience, while opportunities for students to spend time abroad better prepare them to become global citizens.

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5. Imperial College London

Imperial College London focuses teaching and learning around science, engineering, medicine and business.

Imperial College London is consistently ranked among the best universities in the world for science, technology, engineering, medicine and business.

More than 60 per cent of students are international students, coming from over 140 countries.

Clubs and support services for international students at Imperial College include the International Family Network and the International Students House.

4. University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious universities. The town in which it is located is just an hour from London.

The university is home to more than 19,000 students and 9,000 staff. There are 31 colleges, some of which date back to the 13th century, and more than 100 academic departments.

About 25 per cent of undergraduate students and more than 50 per cent of postgraduate students hail from outside the UK. There is a range of clubs and societies for international students, including the Welcome International Students of Cambridge society, which promotes relationships and interaction between international students at the university and local families.

3. University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is not only the top university in the world, it also happens to be one of the most international.

Over a third of students at the University of Oxford are international students, coming from 160 countries and territories. In fact, international students have been attending the University of Oxford for hundreds of years, with the first international student arriving way back in 1190.

Almost half of the staff at the university are international, and the institution has links with many other institutions worldwide.

Prospective international students can listen to the university’s International Students podcast, which talks you through academic and social aspects of life at Oxford.

2. Abu Dhabi University

Abu Dhabi University was established in 2003 and enrols about 8,000 students.

The university is home to students from more than 100 nationalities.

There are many different opportunities for international students to join the student community through clubs, the Student Council, sports and well-being teams and volunteering and community outreach opportunities.

The university also publishes an undergraduate and postgraduate student handbook to help students learn about life on campus and the facilities and services available to them.

1. City University of Hong Kong

City University of Hong Kong is a public research university in Kowloon, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1984 as the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong, and it became a fully accredited university in 1994.

There are 10 colleges/schools: business, engineering, liberal arts and social sciences, science, veterinary medicine and life sciences, creative media, data science, energy and environment, law and graduate schools.

The university has more than 400 exchange partners in over 40 countries and regions, and 65 per cent of students participate in student exchange programmes each year.

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Most international universities in the world 2024

Click each institution to view its full World University Rankings 2024 profile

Most international rank 2024 Most international rank 2023 World University rank 2024 University Country/region
1 4 82 City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
2 NR 251-300 Abu Dhabi University United Arab Emirates
3 8 1 University of Oxford United Kingdom
4 9 5 University of Cambridge United Kingdom
5 7 8 Imperial College London United Kingdom
6 1 35 University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
7 3 11 ETH Zurich Switzerland
8 2 33 École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Switzerland
9 5 =64 The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong
10 6 =87 Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong
11 11 =119 University of Vienna Austria
12 13 =38 King’s College London United Kingdom
13 17 53 Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
14 14 22 UCL United Kingdom
=15 =27 67 Australian National University Australia
=15 12 32 Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Singapore
=17 =19 46 London School of Economics and Political Science United Kingdom
=17 15 48 Delft University of Technology Netherlands
19 =22 =30 University of Edinburgh United Kingdom
=20 =22 61 University of Amsterdam Netherlands
=20 10 19 National University of Singapore Singapore
22 25 =64 Wageningen University & Research Netherlands
=23 21 41 University of British Columbia Canada
=23 =19 80 University of Zurich Switzerland
=23 =29 51 University of Manchester United Kingdom
26 41 84 UNSW Sydney Australia
27 44 70 The University of Queensland Australia
28 =27 =106 University of Warwick United Kingdom
29 38 37 University of Melbourne Australia
30 36 3 Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States
=31 16 134 Trinity College Dublin Ireland
=31 =31 129 University of Leeds United Kingdom
33 37 79 University of Groningen Netherlands
34 =51 =111 University of Adelaide Australia
=35 NR 101 University of Birmingham United Kingdom
=35 35 =87 University of Glasgow United Kingdom
37 =29 49 McGill University Canada
38 40 60 University of Sydney Australia
39 18 =150 University of Auckland New Zealand
=40 33 21 University of Toronto Canada
=40 NR =193 University of St Andrews United Kingdom
42 49 54 Monash University Australia
43 43 77 Leiden University Netherlands
=44 34 71 Institut Polytechnique de Paris France
=44 54 4 Harvard University United States
46 45 81 University of Bristol United Kingdom
=47 =31 50 Karolinska Institute Sweden
=47 50 7 California Institute of Technology United States
49 56 2 Stanford University United States
50 62 6 Princeton University United States
51 64 9 University of California, Berkeley United States
52 55 125 Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Netherlands
53 47 201–250 Aalto University Finland
54 42 =103 University of Copenhagen Denmark
55 57 167 University of Cape Town South Africa
56 59 45 KU Leuven Belgium
57 =65 17 Columbia University United States
=58 69 20 Cornell University United States
=58 63 24 Carnegie Mellon University United States
60 =65 102 Free University of Berlin Germany
61 =65 =30 Technical University of Munich Germany
62 61 =106 Lund University Sweden
63 NR 801–1000 Qassim University Saudi Arabia
64 60 36 Georgia Institute of Technology United States
=65 71 69 University of California, Santa Barbara United States
=65 78 10 Yale University United States
=65 NR 501–600 Beirut Arab University Lebanon
68 =93 =123 University of Massachusetts United States
=69 53 =109 Aarhus University Denmark
=69 NR 401–500 Zayed University United Arab Emirates
=71 70 15 Johns Hopkins University United States
=71 =76 =119 Rice University United States
73 58 127 University of Oslo Norway
74 68 =140 Uppsala University Sweden
75 79 =87 Humboldt University of Berlin Germany
76 80 13 The University of Chicago United States
77 72 75 Sorbonne University France
78 75 27 New York University United States
79 NR 251–300 University of Malaya Malaysia
80 =93 801–1000 Lebanese University Lebanon
81 NR 351–400 Technion Israel Institute of Technology Israel
82 86 59 University of California, Davis United States
83 NR =140 Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Germany
84 73 40 Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris France
85 83 =92 University of California, Irvine United States
86 =76 47 Universität Heidelberg Germany
87 88 16 University of Pennsylvania United States
88 NR 201–250 Northeastern University, US United States
89 89 86 Purdue University West Lafayette United States
90 87 =38 LMU Munich Germany
91 =98 58 Université Paris-Saclay France
92 91 78 Boston University United States
93 NR 401–500 Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University Saudi Arabia
94 82 91 University of Bonn Germany
=95 74 301–350 Norwegian University of Science and Technology Norway
=95 =104 18 University of California, Los Angeles United States
97 81 115 Ghent University Belgium
98 =98 128 University of Freiburg Germany
99 106 74 University of Southern California United States
100 103 28 Northwestern University United States
101 NR 401–500 University of Toulouse France
102 NR 351–400 Aix-Marseille University France
=103 =98 34 University of California, San Diego United States
=103 102 =95 University of Tübingen Germany
105 113 201–250 University of California, Santa Cruz United States
106 =96 26 Duke University United States
107 =96 90 RWTH Aachen University Germany
108 NR 201–250 Autonomous University of Barcelona Spain
109 85 401–500 Charles University Czech Republic
=110 24 251–300 King Abdulaziz University Saudi Arabia
=110 107 =116 Michigan State University United States
112 90 201–250 Politecnico di Milano Italy
113 84 =152 Université Paris Cité France
114 111 25 University of Washington United States
115 =104 =152 University of Barcelona Spain
116 112 =64 Brown University United States
=117 114 =161 TU Dresden Germany
=117 109 301–350 Université Grenoble Alpes France
119 =117 118 Texas A&M University United States
120 115 =99 Ohio State University (Main campus) United States
=121 =117 182 Arizona State University (Tempe) United States
123 119 =199 University of Notre Dame United States
124 116 68 Washington University in St Louis United States
125 122 23 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor United States
126 108 121 University of Helsinki Finland
127 120 42 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign United States
128 NR 401–500 University of Porto Portugal
129 125 =106 Emory University United States
=130 121 251–300 École Normale Supérieure de Lyon France
=130 124 201–250 Rutgers University – New Brunswick United States
132 133 =145 Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) South Korea
133 101 201–250 Tel Aviv University Israel
134 127 251–300 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University United States
=135 129 63 University of Wisconsin-Madison United States
137 131 198 Indiana University United States
138 123 =155 University of Bologna Italy
139 128 14 Peking University China
141 132 801–1000 National Autonomous University of Mexico Mexico
=142 134 251–300 North Carolina State University United States
=142 141 122 Penn State (Main campus) United States
144 140 =138 University of Colorado Boulder United States
145 137 201–250 University of Padua Italy
=146 153 201–250 University of Iowa United States
=146 =146 =92 Vanderbilt University United States
148 =149 =185 Tongji University China
149 95 301–350 Hebrew University of Jerusalem Israel
151 =135 =187 Georgetown University United States
152 166 =161 Dartmouth College United States
=153 NR =193 University of Münster Germany
=153 =160 132 University of Florida United States
155 =146 166 University of Virginia (Main campus) United States
156 138 181 Sapienza University of Rome Italy
157 152 =191 Tokyo Institute of Technology Japan
158 158 =55 Zhejiang University China
159 145 29 The University of Tokyo Japan
160 155 801–1000 Waseda University Japan
161 154 =145 University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campus United States
162 159 =155 University of Arizona United States
=163 =160 73 Nanjing University China
=163 156 =130 Tohoku University Japan
165 =149 =152 National Taiwan University (NTU) Taiwan
166 142 501–600 Complutense University of Madrid Spain
167 183 43 Shanghai Jiao Tong University China
168 157 114 University of Maryland, College Park United States
169 165 72 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States
170 163 52 University of Texas at Austin United States
171 164 85 University of Minnesota United States
172 173 351–400 University of Tsukuba Japan
174 178 44 Fudan University China
175 171 =175 Osaka University Japan
176 182 12 Tsinghua University China
=177 168 351–400 University of Georgia United States
=177 175 62 Seoul National University South Korea
179 162 76 Yonsei University (Seoul campus) South Korea
180 167 =55 Kyoto University Japan
=181 NR 201–250 Tianjin University China
=181 181 =177 Beijing Normal University China
=184 170 83 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) South Korea
186 =179 301–350 Kyushu University Japan
187 172 351–400 Hokkaido University Japan
188 =179 201–250 University of São Paulo Brazil
189 NR 251–300 Nankai University China
190 184 201–250 Nagoya University Japan
191 =188 301–350 Southeast University China
192 186 149 Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) South Korea
193 185 351–400 University of Campinas Brazil
194 =188 57 University of Science and Technology of China China
195 191 =150 Sichuan University China
196 187 =164 Wuhan University China
197 190 601–800 Keio University Japan
198 195 201–250 Sun Yat-sen University China
199 192 =168 Harbin Institute of Technology China
200 NR 251–300 Beijing Institute of Technology China
201 193 251–300 Xi’an Jiaotong University China
202 194 201–250 Indian Institute of Science India
203 197 =158 Huazhong University of Science and Technology China

Further analysis into the results can be found here

Methodology

The data in Times Higher Education’s ranking of the World’s Most International Universities 2024 are drawn largely from the “international outlook” pillar of the THE World University Rankings 2024. This takes into account a university’s proportions of international students, international staff and journal publications with at least one international co-author. Each of these elements is given equal weighting in calculating the score for this pillar.

The table adds a fourth component, which makes up 25 per cent of the total score: a university’s international reputation. This is a measure of the proportion of votes from outside the home country that the institution achieved in THE’s annual invitation-only Academic Reputation Survey, which asks leading scholars to name the world’s best universities for teaching and research in their field.

Only institutions that received at least 300 votes in the survey were eligible for inclusion. Universities must also receive at least 150 or at least 10 per cent of available domestic votes to be ranked. Once universities are included in the international list, they are excluded only if they do not meet the vote thresholds for two years in a row.

Metrics and weightings:

• 25 per cent: proportion of international staff

• 25 per cent: proportion of international students

• 25 per cent: international co-authorship

• 25 per cent: international reputation.

Editor’s note: As part of our THE statement on Ukraine published on 2 March 2022, Russian universities have been given less prominence in our rankings. Russian universities that met the criteria for this ranking are not displayed in the table above.

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