2.

Factors

influencing

undergraduate

students'

choice

decision

of

higher education

2.5.1 Teaching reputation

Teaching reputation is a reputation where a university could gain through the quality
of teaching which is given by lecturers or professors to impart knowledge or skill for
their students. Based on the research from Briggs (2006), teaching reputation is one of
the top ten of the most crucial factors that influenced students choice decision of
higher education. A good teaching reputation would bring success to the university as
it will attracts more students by having good and effective lecturers which will
improve students achievement and lead to their future success. In addition, the lecture
and learning facilities for most of the institutions in England, where they provided to a
high standard are having an important influence on students choice of higher
education more than their research profiles (Price, Matzdorf, Smith & Agahi, 2003).

2.5.2 Quality of faculty

A faculty is the primary academic division in which teaching and research are
conducted. There are two main faculty which is the faculty of arts and sciences such
as Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Business, Faculty of Medicine and more. A
quality faculty provide students with an environment that is conducive to learning and
provide all the necessary resources that are required for their education. Higher
education institutions with large faculty and facilities may attract more students
(Tang, 2004). In 1990, attrition from the faculty ranks at Universiti Sains Malaysia
was 7%, and in 2000, was 27% (Lee 2003). Chapman (1984) cited that fixed college
characteristics comprising college size, campus environment and good quality of
faculty members are one of the external influences that influence a students intention
to study at particular university.

2.5.3 Academic reputation

The academic reputation defined as a status of the university in term of academic in

which the degree offered is recognized nationally or internationally. It is the sum of
opinions, ideas and impressions that prospective students have of the institution
(Kotler and Fox, 1995) which is formed from the word of mouth, past experience and
also the marketing activities of the institution (Ivy, 2011). Academic reputation is very
important and it has a great impact on influencing decision of undergraduate students
in choosing higher education. There is an empirical findings show that academic
reputation is consistently ranked as the most important factor in the students selection
of a university (Beneke & Human, 2010; Nagaraj et al., 2008; Baharun 2004; LeBlanc
& Nguyen, 1997). Besides, a research of international students choice of private
higher education institutions in Malaysia reveal that the academic reputation is the
most influential factor for foreign students in selecting their universities (Melissa W.
Migin, 2015). The academic performance of students represent the academic
reputation of the university. Students always like to choose the university with good
and higher academic reputation as it could increase the opportunity for students to
find a job easily or guarantees a well-paid job in the students area of study after
graduation.

2.5.4 Research reputation

Research is the systematic investigation and the study of materials and sources to
establish facts and comes out with new conclusions. Research reputation of a
university shows the well-being and the fame of the university on its research done.
Quality of the research done could affect the research reputation of the university.
Among the top ten of the most crucial factors that influenced students choice of
university conducted by Briggs (2006), research reputation was ranked the lowest.
However, engineering respondents has voted slightly higher than accountancy
respondents for research reputation. For most of the engineering students, the goal of
a career in industries motivates their pursuit of advanced study. Therefore,
engineering students outlook on research tends to be predisposed toward application
in engineering factors. On the other hand, Drewes (2006) has found a negative
relationship between research performance and applications which show that
applicants expect that the boast as being a top research institution conversely means

that there are no faculty who are fully engaged with their teaching in the university.
Nevertheless, Ciriaci and Muscio (2011) dispute that the research quality has positive
influence on employability upon graduation.

2.5.5 Reputation with disabled

When most the students graduates from high school, they will pursue for further
education to obtain university degree as it is the essential path to success in todays
economy. However, students with disabilities have a unique set of challenges that they
need to face and overcome. By knowing their abilities and limitations, they will need
to find the resources which are available to disabled students and seek help from
various organizations and services. It is important to choose the university with better
reputation for accommodating students with disabilities. In Malaysia, University of
Malaya (UM) is well-known in recognizes the rights and needs of the disabled to
pursue their studies to the highest level by providing accessible environment that
could support the disabled students physically and mentally. UM has proven itself in
developing disabled students through the various achievements garnered such as the
record-setting Faiq Adnan who swam across the Straits of Penang in 2013.
Furthermore, most of the university would also provide financial support for disabled
students. Hence, students with disabilities must consider all the circumstances when
choosing their higher education which could give conveniences for them to study.

2.5.6 Competition for place

Competition for place often occurs in the famous and outstanding universities with
popular courses. Location, environment, facilities, and reputation of the university are
the main factors of students in selecting university. In Malaysia, enrolment in public
universities is very competitive. Not every interested students could gain an entry to
the public universities as there are high standard of entry requirements and limited
place for the first degree programme. Furthermore, Malaysia also used to set ethnic
quotas for intake in public universities which cause Chinese and Indians has lesser
chance to get an entry for their preferable course. For example, 19% ethnic Chinese
and 4% ethnic Indians are awarded for the 41,573 places in public universities. The

rest of the seats were mainly allocated to bumiputera (BBC News, 2013). Thus, for
those that could not get any entry or get the course they are not preferable, they would
go for the private universities in advance.

2.5.7 Programme flexibility

Programme flexibility is the ability to manage programme freely. This means that
students could structure their own subject according to their preference of units and
time through a various type of course provided in university. A research done by
Yusof et. al (2008) in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor showed that the flexibility of the
programme would be an important factor for students to be taken into considerations
in selecting university. Besides, Ford et al (1999) also found that the program issues
such as range of programs of study, flexibility of degree program, major change
flexibility and range of degree options are the important factors for students in
choosing university. For example, UTAR offers various subjects for students to
choose according to their preference. Flexibility for students in choosing subjects and
time would fulfil their satisfaction in managing the process of studies.

2.5.8 Cost of package

Cost of package of the courses is the tuition fees where need to be paid for further
study in higher education institution. It is one of the factor that should not be forgotten
as well, as not only students are cost-conscious, the parents also concern about it. By
considering the financial problem, parents always afraid that the rising of the
education costs will block the higher education opportunities for their children. Yusof
et. al (2008) stated that cost of tuition fees is a moderately important factor for parents
to consider in choosing a particular college or university for their children. For
example, most of the parents will likely to consider TARUC and UTAR as their first
choice as both of this higher education institution offer a more affordable cost of
tuition fees as compare to other private institution such as Taylor University and
Sunway University which double up the cost. Besides, the affordable cost of package
for higher education institution in Malaysia has attracted many international students.
The international students have discovered that studying in Malaysia is more

beneficial to them as there is cheaper tuition fees with a wide diversity of study option
and the lower cost of living in Malaysia (StudyMalaysia, 2015).

2.5.9 Academic support facilities

Facilities provided by universities such as classrooms, laboratories, cafeteria and
libraries are utmost important factor that influence students choice of higher
education. To ensure the environment of university is conducive for learning, quality
and adequate facilities should be provided. According to the findings from Prof Dr
Karl Wagner and Pooyan Yousefi Fard (2009), it indicate that the physical aspects,
facilities and information received by students are significant factors influencing
Malaysian students intention to study at a higher educational institution. Hence, the
authorities should look for improvement of their physical aspects, facilities and
resources for students. In Malaysia, public universities often provide a more adequate
facilities for students as compare to private universities as the former are partially
funded by government. For example, Universiti Malaya (UM) provides a wide and
adequate library facilities for the whole campus and provides wide range of books,
journals, databases and other electronic resources for lecturers and students use
(Malaysian Digest, 2014). Based on a research conducted for factors influencing the
decision of students to study at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), it is found that the
availability of facilities is highly important factor for 34% of the students. Various
facilities are provided in USM including teaching facilities, excellent library facilities,
sport facilities and other supporting facilities which highly attract more students to
enrol (JL Fernandez, 2010).

2.5.10 First university to offer place

First university to offer a place is not a crucial factor but sometimes it provide a
direction for students that are still unclear about where to study after completed their
secondary level. For every universities, they will have the minimum requirement for
certain course. Students will not be able to get a place if they did not meet the
requirement and if there is limited places for the course. Limited places at universities
means there is limited admission for students to select the universities and the course

they preferred (Ahmad Zamri, 2012). Hence, after the students applied for several
universities, they may consider and select the university that offered them at very first
place instead of waiting for the reply from other universities.

2.5.11 Guidance from parents

Parents play an important role and have a great influence for students on selecting
higher education. Parents will consider more on the financial and location of the
university. Most of the students would follow parental advice and opinion to choose a
local university that is near to their home with affordable education fees. Nearly 60%
of students stated that they did research on selecting university or college with their
parents whereas 61% of parents stated that they made final decision together for
which university to enrol in (Matt McFadden, 2015). Furthermore, the financial aid
such as scholarships and PTPTN offered by the university also a decisive factor in
respective of parents. From the study of Yusof (2008), he found that the financial
assistance offered by university is one of the important factor influencing the choice
of university. Most of the parents and students would place great emphasis on
studying in top-ranked universities as they believed that students will get higher
opportunities to get the best job after graduated from these universities (Andriani K,
2013). Other than that, Jusoh (2006) found that parents is the most influential factors
among matriculation students in choosing local universities. However, Wagner and
Fard (2009) claimed that these factors are only involving colleges students in Klang
Valley but not represent the whole population of pre-university students of Malaysia.
The another results from study of Ismail et al. (2007) stated that parents have least
influence on students choice because most of the students are already matured and
they are able to make their own decisions. Nevertheless, most of the parents still
would assist their child to find out their interests and their preference course and
university.

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