Trinity has ranked 114th in the world in the International Student Rankings by Times Higher Education (THE). The rankings are based on figures provided by universities on their proportion of international students, with College rising 19 places from last year. Over 27% of students in Trinity are international students, putting Trinity second in Ireland.
The Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland (RCSI) has the highest proportion of international students in Ireland, and third in the world with 62% of students classed as international students. University College Dublin (UCD) ranked 129th, with 26% of all students being international, while Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) also ranked in the top 200 globally, at 140th.
The American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates took the top spot, with over 83% of all students being international, followed by the London School of Economics and Political Science where 70.5% of students are international. University of Sharjah, University of Luxembourg, and Soas, University of London placed third, fourth and fifth respectively.
Figures produced by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) in December showed that the proportion of international students in Ireland is continuing to grow, with a 1% increase in the number of international students in education in Ireland since 2014. The majority of international students in Ireland are from the United States, with 34% from Asia. 43% of all international students gained employment in Ireland following graduation. There was also an increase in the number of students who choose to study in Ireland as part of the Erasmus programme, with a 500 increase from 2014 to 2017.
At a Town Hall meeting in January, Trinity’s Chief Financial Officer, Ian Matthews, stated that College is pursuing a strategy to increase the number of international students who study at Trinity in order to increase College revenue. At the meeting, following the proposal of a 5% increase to postgraduate and non-EU fees, Matthews said that College needs an additional €40m a year to be sustainable.
