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What Are the Top Universities in the USA for International Students?

A New Ranking Based on What Matters to YOU!

Choosing which of the best universities in the USA to attend can seem overwhelming. There are so many rankings to choose from—all based on what’s important to U.S. students, and sometimes using data only from U.S. citizens. 

Fortunately, MPOWER Financing, which was founded by former international students and has been recognized as a top lender for international students by U.S. News and NerdWallet, used its big data expertise to create a ranking of the best universities in the USA exclusively for international students. This university ranking is based on the three factors that matter most to international students and their families: value, safety, and a welcoming atmosphere for international students. The ranking also builds on MPOWER’s Financing prior research to identify schools that provide great outcomes for international students, since the company lends money to students who attend universities in the USA based on the each student’s future earning potential.

The rankings are based on data, not opinion-based surveys, and were created without influence or input from universities. MPOWER ranked all U.S. schools with more than 500 international students enrolled on campus according to these 3 factors:

1. Value (65%): This is by far the most important factor for international students, who continually ask, “But is a U.S. degree worth the cost?”—and that’s why it has the greatest weight in the ranking. This was broken down into several different drivers of value:

1. Payback period (45%): While some rankings use return on investment (ROI), for international students, payback period is a better metric. Why? Because ROI calculations are often calculated over a period of at least 10 years—or sometimes an entire career! International students often consider a shorter time horizon, given that they may face uncertainty about whether or how long they will be able to stay and work in the U.S. The payback metric is simple and intuitive: the number of months it would take to pay back each school’s total sticker(listed) price, based on that school’s average post-graduation salary.
2. Cost of living (5%): Tuition and fees aren’t the only driver of cost; the cost of rent and other living expenses varies widely around the U.S., so this has been factored in as well.
3. Availability of financial aid resources for international students on school websites (5%): This was used as a proxy for a school’s willingness to provide international students with scholarships and other forms of financial aid. As a provider of no-cosigner loans and scholarships for international students, MPOWER knows that access to funding is a major barrier to studying abroad.
4. Percentage of students receiving financial assistance (10%): One of the worst-kept secrets in U.S. higher education is that the actual price that students pay is often quite different from the listed price shown on their website or admissions materials. While the payback period analysis focuses on the sticker price, this metric highlights the percentage of students who pay less than the sticker price. It’s a good proxy for whether talented international students are likely to get a discount. 

2.   Welcoming atmosphere for international students (25%): International students often wonder “Will I fit in on campus?” While data can’t definitively answer that question, three proxies were used to determine how welcoming a campus will be to international students:

1. The total number of international students (15%): There’s strength in numbers! The number of international students enrolled gives a sense of a university’s openness to international students. In addition, universities with larger numbers of international students are more likely to have well-staffed International Student Services (ISS) offices and student clubs for students from your country.
2. The percentage of international students (5%): Although similar to the metric above, this metric adjusts for the total size of the student body to reflect the proportion that is comprised of international students.
3. Availability of ethnic food near campus (5%): One of the best ways to beat homesickness is to eat your mom’s cooking—or the next best thing! Google Maps data was used to determine the availability of restaurants serving non-American food within one mile of campus.

3.   Campus safety (10%): Safety is a top concern of international students, especially women. The best data to assess safety are the official Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) statistics on crime on college campuses. To ensure a fair comparison across campuses, which vary greatly in size, the data was converted into ‘crimes per thousand students’ and then converted it into a relative safety score.

The Top 30 U.S. Schools for International Students

Using these factors, all U.S. schools with more than 500 international students were evaluated. For each factor, the raw score (e.g., the payback period in months, or the cost of living in dollars) was converted into an index score. The higher the index, the better the school scored on that metric. 

Based on this analysis, these are the top 30 U.S. schools for international students!

School Name	Final Ranking	Total Weighted Index Score	Payback Period Index (High Score = Short Payback, Low Score = Long Payback) [45%]	Cost of Living Index (High Score = Most Expensive, Low Score = Least Expensive) [5%]	Funding Information Availability Index (High Score = Most Available, Low Score = Least) [5%]	Percentage of Students Receiving Financial Aid Index (High Score = Highest %, Low Score = Least) [10%]	Number of International Students Index (High Score = Most Intnl Students, Low Score = Least) [15%]	Percentage of International Students (High Score = Largest %, Low Score = Least) [5%]	Campus Safety Index (High Score = Safest, Low Score = Least Safe) [10%]	Ethnic Food Availability Index (High Score = Most Available, Low Score = Least) [5%]
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	1	72.54	79	54	30	49	82	50	82	100
Michigan Technological University	2	70.6	90	80	30	93	9	36	87	70
University of California-Irvine	3	70.18	85	82	30	60	48	41	60	100
Texas Tech University	4	69.64	98	89	30	56	22	18	75	40
North Dakota State University	5	68.62	90	99	60	67	6	12	84	70
The University of Texas at Dallas	6	68.04	71	79	60	65	44	48	85	100
Texas A & M University-College Station	7	68.02	86	78	30	48	39	17	72	100
Clemson University	8	66.62	83	88	60	93	11	13	81	40
Illinois Institute of Technology	9	66.56	71	75	60	100	24	100	55	70
SUNY at Binghamton	10	66.46	77	100	100	64	19	33	76	70
University of California-Davis	11	66.22	76	83	60	63	46	37	47	100
San Diego State University	12	65.2	91	67	30	44	20	17	59	100
University of California-San Diego	13	65.04	64	80	30	52	83	52	70	70
University of California-Berkeley	14	64.68	80	77	60	48	50	35	42	70
University of South Florida-Main Campus	15	64.62	73	83	30	79	35	24	82	70
The University of Texas at Austin	16	64.48	77	80	30	43	38	22	81	100
University of California-Los Angeles	17	62.79	76	76	30	56	51	34	48	70
Northeastern University	18	61.24	67	54	30	70	51	71	67	40
North Carolina State University at Raleigh	19	61.07	68	76	30	50	35	31	99	70
New York University	20	60.24	41	46	60	45	100	58	93	100
Harvard University	21	60.02	67	48	60	56	48	46	59	70
University of Florida	22	59.77	61	82	30	91	44	25	77	40
Georgia Institute of Technology	23	59.39	58	59	100	67	48	49	69	40
University of Utah	24	59.37	69	81	100	77	17	16	62	40
Columbia University	25	59.27	38	48	100	52	80	78	88	100
Oklahoma State University	26	58.71	71	92	30	78	13	16	80	40
University of Southern California	27	58.02	48	56	60	58	83	54	75	40
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	28	55.52	47	74	100	53	51	33	61	100
Johns Hopkins University	29	52.86	45	79	100	52	35	42	61	100
Boston University	30	48.96	36	54	60	48	58	52	60	100

But Wait…the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is #1 and Harvard is #21! How Can That Be?

This ranking is based on the three factors that matter most to international students—value (mostly based on payback period), safety, and hospitality to international students—which means the results are somewhat different from rankings based on other factors!

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, for example, ranks highly because it has a relatively low sticker price (which means a shorter payback period), lots of international students, and a safe campus near lots of international food options.

Despite its greater prestige and name recognition, Harvard (although still one of our top recommended schools!) does not rate quite as highly. Why? Because it has a higher sticker price, resulting in a longer payback period than, say, University of Illinois; a smaller number of international students (perhaps not surprising given its smaller student body); and an urban campus which, like most urban campuses, tends to be not as safe as a campus in a rural area or small town.

Of course, Harvard could still be a great choice if you’re looking for top-notch academics and a prestigious degree and you’re comfortable with a slightly longer payback period, fewer international students, and an urban campus.

So How Should I Use This List?

No one should decide which school to attend solely based on this list. The most important factor, of course, is whether the degree program you are seeking is offered by the school—and whether this degree program has the right reputation, areas of concentration, opportunities for research or consulting, and career placement track record for YOU.

But once you know which schools offer the right degree program for you, this list can be helpful in narrowing down your list—or even bringing new schools to your attention! If you’re interested in pursuing a STEM degree and value campus safety and an affordable degree (but don’t mind the cold or being in a rural area!), for example, you might consider Michigan Technological University.

Once you’ve used this list and other resources to narrow down your list to the top 5 or 10 schools, we suggest talking to the following:

? The Financial Aid Office, the Recruitment Office, and the school/department you would be in, to discuss what financial aid/scholarships they might be able to offer you.

? The Career Services Office of the university (or better yet, your program) to find out about job placement rates and starting salaries for students with the degree you are seeking, with international students broken out separately if possible. This, combined with information on your financial aid package, will allow you to calculate your actual payback period and ROI!

? The International Student Services Office, to discuss what support services are available for international students.

? Members of the international student association or—better yet—an association of students from your country (e.g. the Chinese Student Association or the Indian Student Association), to find out how welcoming the campus is to international students, and what opportunities you will have to connect with other international students.

Once you’ve done that, you’ll be ready to make a great, data-driven decision about the best school for YOU!

The Best of the Rest: Honorable Mentions

In addition to the 30 schools that were ranked in the previous table, MPOWER also identified a further 70 schools that provide great value for international students. We encourage you to review this list (arranged by state and then alphabetically) to uncover other “hidden gems” among U.S. schools.

Learn about American Culture and Values.

University	State
Auburn University	AL
The University of Alabama	AL
Pepperdine University	CA
Santa Clara University	CA
Stanford University	CA
University of California-Riverside	CA
University of Colorado Boulder	CO
University of Connecticut	CT
Yale University	CT
American University	DC
George Washington University	DC
Georgetown University	DC
University of Delaware	DE
University of Central Florida	FL
Emory University	GA
University of Georgia	GA
University of Hawaii at Manoa	HI
Iowa State University	IA
University of Iowa	IA
DePaul University	IL
Northwestern University	IL
University of Chicago	IL
University of Illinois at Chicago	IL
Purdue University-Main Campus	IN
University of Notre Dame	IN
Kansas State University	KS
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College	LA
Tulane University of Louisiana	LA
Bentley University	MA
Boston College	MA
Hult International Business School	MA
University of Massachusetts-Amherst	MA
Worcester Polytechnic Institute	MA
University of Maryland-College Park	MD
Central Michigan University	MI
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	MN
Missouri University of Science and Technology	MO
Washington University in St Louis	MO
Duke University	NC
University of Nebraska-Lincoln	NE
Dartmouth College	NH
New Jersey Institute of Technology	NJ
Rutgers University-Newark	NJ
Stevens Institute of Technology	NJ
Cornell University	NY
CUNY Bernard M Baruch College	NY
Fordham University	NY
Rochester Institute of Technology	NY
Stony Brook University	NY
Syracuse University	NY
University at Buffalo	NY
University of Rochester	NY
Case Western Reserve University	OH
Ohio State University-Main Campus	OH
University of Dayton	OH
University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus	OK
Oregon State University	OR
Carnegie Mellon University	PA
Temple University	PA
University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus	PA
Brown University	RI
University of South Carolina-Columbia	SC
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	TN
Vanderbilt University	TN
Rice University	TX
Brigham Young University-Provo	UT
University of Virginia-Main Campus	VA
Virginia Commonwealth University	VA
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	VA
University of Washington-Seattle Campus	WA