Munich

QS Best Student Cities ranking: 9^th 

In accordance with Germany’s growing status as an international study destination, the country has not just one but two entries in the top 10 of the QS Best Student Cities 2017. Munich this year places ninth, just three places behind capital Berlin.

Located deep in Germany's southernmost region, Bavaria, Munich is the nation’s third-largest city, and its affluence and vibrancy make it a particularly desirable place to live. For many people outside of Germany, Munich is known first and foremost as the beer capital of the world – home to Oktoberfest, one of the world's biggest and booziest parties, which every year draws tourists in their hoards to road-test the local brew.

Of course this is not the reason for Munich’s high score in the QS Best Student Cities index, but the city does score among the highest in the world in the Desirability category, which draws on a broad selection of sources designed to assess quality of life.

Most notably, however, Munich has the second highest score for Affordability out of all of the top 10 cities, close behind fellow German city Berlin. This is due to the fact that no tuition fees are charged for undergraduate students at public universities in Germany, regardless of nationality. Although living costs tend to be slightly higher in Munich than Berlin, the incentive of free tuition combined with the distinctive Bavarian culture combines to make Munich one of the most appealing study destinations in Western Europe.

As for universities in Munich, the city’s highest entrant in the QS World University Rankings® 2016-2017 is Technische Universität München at 60th, followed by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in joint 68^th – Germany’s top two representatives in the world rankings this year.

Would you choose Munich over Berlin? Tell us why.

Internationally ranked universities in Munich

More about Munich

 To find out how each of the above categories is calculated, view the methodology.