More than 259,000 international students study in Victoria, from around 170 countries. Melbourne ranks first in the world for student diversity in the QS Best Student Cities 2027.
Melbourne is Australia’s highest-ranked student city, fourth in the world in the same QS ranking. It is also third on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2026 Global Liveability Index.
Victoria has Australia’s top-ranked university, the University of Melbourne, and two universities in the world’s top 50. Melbourne is the country’s second-largest city, known for its arts, sport, food and coffee.
If you would rather live somewhere smaller, Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Warrnambool and other regional cities have university campuses too. Study Melbourne notes that graduates of regional campuses get more generous post-study work rights.
Source: Study Melbourne, the Victorian Government’s international education agency.