Pittsburgh

QS Best Student Cities ranking: 67th

Pittsburgh, the second-largest city in the US state of Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia), offers a strong quality of living, diverse student population, and a chance to study at a world-renowned university. Two universities in Pittsburgh are featured within the top 150 in the QS World University Rankings® 2020, led by the well-known Carnegie Mellon University in 48th place.

Located to the west of the state, just east of the Ohio border, Pittsburgh is located on the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers which merge to form the Ohio River. The city’s large-scale waterways are not only points of beauty for the city, but also a point of pride – one of Pittsburgh’s nicknames is “the City of Bridges”, as there are a total of 446 bridges within its borders.

Other nicknames awarded to Pittsburgh include “the Steel City”, thanks to its thriving steel industry and “the City of Champions”, due to a long history of sporting victories. Pittsburgh has been voted one of the nation’s top cities for baseball, but other sports such as football (American), ice hockey and basketball are also competitively played, giving the city a brilliant celebratory atmosphere on match days. It’s not all about sports, however; Pittsburgh also boasts modern architecture, quirky neighborhoods, trendy bars and fine museums.

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Internationally ranked universities in Pittsburgh

More about Pittsburgh

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