International students now have access to a unique tool that allows them to see the most culturally diverse student campuses thanks to data collated by Hotcourses. The Hotcourses Diversity Index (HDI) uses official government data to demonstrate the mix of student nationalities at institutions across the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand.

An additional aspect of the tool is the Feel at Home Index, which allows students to understand the proportion of international students at a university that are of their own nationality. This information is filterable by subject area, study level, destination and/or university and is designed to help students make the most informed choice.

For many students, having access to a multicultural community is a vital part of studying abroad. Ngoc Tran from Vietnam who studied at Goldsmiths, University of London, said: “Even though I am the only one that comes from Vietnam […] I have never felt isolated and lonely but always surrounded by lovely international friends that give me so much advice and help during the course.”

Other students value the chance to find their own native communities while studying abroad. Shree Suriya from Sri Lanka spoke about his experience at an Australian university: “I have a lot of friends from my country so life is not that bad. At least it is good to talk to someone from your country. I hardly miss home and the food as we take up turns while cooking. We live together so it is easy.”

Andrew Wharton, Managing Director, Hotcourses International, said: “We have a simple mission - to simplify and personalise global study choice. This latest addition to our suite of tech tools furthers the guidance we offer international students to help them make the right choice.

“Whether a student seeks a culturally diverse campus experience or prefers the ‘safety in numbers’ of studying amongst fellow countrymen, our Diversity Index is unique in its ability to provide an immediate and comparable oversight of the nationality mix of universities’ student bodies.

“With the need to diversify a strategic imperative for many universities, the tool also offers universities a view of how they compare to their country and global peers.”

Where are the most diverse universities?

UK top 10 most diverse universities

US top 10 most diverse universities

Methodology

Where institutions have equal numbers of international student nationalities, those with a greater number of overall international students are positioned higher in the table.

The Hotcourses Diversity Index uses data from:
The UK > the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
The US > The Institute of International Education (IIE)

Australia > Australian Government Department of Education & Training
New Zealand > New Zealand Ministry for Education

Click here to see an explanation of the methodology in full.