10 Most Affordable Cities for Students in 2019

With the exception of Wroclaw (where tuition is free), the Indian city of Bangalore, a new entry in this year’s Best Student Cities index at 81^st, has the lowest tuition fees of all the cities on this list (only costing US$100 per year on average.) The city also has extremely low living costs – according to Numbeo, a one bedroom apartment in the city center, for example, will cost you an average of US$250 -- this is extremely low compared to cities such as London, where you’d be paying a monthly average of US$2,132.

Bangalore has two universities currently featuring in the world university rankings; the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Bangalore Thapar University, with the former being ranked 184^th in the world. It also ranks highly in both the student view indicator and the employer activity indicator, suggesting that Bangalore’s graduates are viewed highly amongst graduate employers.

Russia’s third largest city, Novosibirsk is packed full of parks and tree lined avenues, as well as being a major manufacturing and administrative center. It climbed six places to rank 92^nd in the Best Student Cities ranking this year and is rated joint fourth for affordability, with tuition fees averaging at US$2,600 per year for international students. Living costs are lower here than in Moscow, with a single metro ticket for example only costing 22 rubles (the equivalent to only 35 US cents).

Ranking 73^rd overall in the Best Student Cities index, Tomsk places joint fourth for affordability in 2019 along with fellow Russian cities Novosibirsk and St Petersburg. Tomsk gained the title of the ‘cultural capital of Siberia’ from the 1960s, when it was fill of artists, writers and film directors, and is still known today as a major educational, scientific and innovation center in Siberia. The city is home to two world-renowned universities, Tomsk State University and Tomsk Polytechnic University, which both feature well within the top 400 universities in the world. If you’re interested in studying at one of Tomsk’s leading institutions, international undergraduate tuition fees cost an average of US$2,600 per year.

St. Petersburg is Russia’s second largest city (after Moscow, of course) and home to over five million people. Ranked 66^th in the city ranking in 2019, it’s climbed four places in the affordability indicator to claim joint fourth place, with tuition fees at its three leading universities costing an average of US$2,600 per year. Students looking to study in this awe-inspiring city will be pleased to find out that the city’s cost of living is 28.2 percent cheaper than in Russia’s capital, Moscow, according to Numbeo. And although St Petersburg’s best score overall is for its affordability, its biggest improvement this year is in the student view indicator, rising 16 places in 2019, reflecting its popularity amongst students.

With sensational architecture and a plethora of diverse cafés and restaurants, Wroclaw, the fourth-largest city in Poland, comes third in the affordability indicator and is a new entry in the QS Best Student Cities index in 2019 at 108^th. Students looking to study in Wroclaw will be pleased to hear that higher education is free for Polish students, and for international students willing to take the same entrance exams and to study a course taught in Polish. However, if you’d prefer to study in English, tuition fees are still much lower than you’ll find elsewhere. The cost of living in Wroclaw is also relatively low, with Numbeo estimating that the monthly rent for a single person living in the center will cost on average around US$597.

For the second year running, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital and largest city, ranks second in the world for affordability. Also featuring in joint 29^th place overall in the best student cities this year, tuition fees at one of Kuala Lumpur’s five ranked universities will cost an average of only US$2,500 per year for international students. For those looking to live in the city center, a one-bedroom apartment will cost an average of US$568 per month (according to Numbeo). Kuala Lumpur also ranks well for affordability in the Mercer Cost of Living Survey, coming 141^st of 209 countries in terms of expense.

Boasting three world leading universities, and home to over three million people, Hungary’s capital ranks first once again for the affordability category in 2019. Budapest also comes 43^rd overall in the QS Best Student Cities, rising six places his year due to its improved scores in the desirability and student mix indicators (appearing in the global top 60 for both).

Budapest will cost international students an average of US$1,400 in tuition fees per year (much lower than many other study destinations). The city also ranks 164^th out of 209 countries in the Mercer Cost of Living Survey. To get an estimate of the monthly expenses you can expect whilst studying in Budapest, you can use StudyinHungary.hu’s cost of living calculator, which also includes information on costs in other Hungarian cities.

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