Attracting international postgraduate students: the pulling factors

Abstract

A university has to carry out various marketing strategies and efforts to recruit international students as many as possible in order to fulfil one of the criteria for a world–class university status. However, to attract quality candidates with the desirable profile is becoming increasingly difficult especially when the university has to compete internationally and nationally with the existing and new emerging universities. This paper discusses the findings of a study carried out to establish the factors considered by international students before they decided to come to Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for their postgraduate studies. A total sample of 896 international students from various fields of studies for three different intakes was used in the study. The result shows that the main factors considered by them are the availability of the programme, reputation, the conduciveness of the campus environment for teaching and learning, and the location of the university. Most of them agreed that internet and education fairs or expositions are effective marketing medium for the recruitment of international students. This study provides an evidence–based framework to be considered by the University in formulating strategies and efforts to become a global player in higher education.