Factors Influencing the University Selection of International Students

Abstract

INTRODUCTION The number of international students pursuing secondary education at United States (U.S.) universities has been increasing over the past 25 years, and is expected to continue into the foreseeable future. However, these students have a plethora of choices among universities in the U.S. and foreign countries. Universities must distinguish themselves if they hope to obtain the most desirable students from around the world. An investigation of the factors that are most important in university choice is an important step in allocating resources to attract the most desirable international students. Our study found that opportunities for post-graduate employment, availability of financial aid, reputation of the institution, accessibility of information on the institution and AACSB accreditation of the institution were the most important factors for international students. However, further investigation shows that international students may not fully understand the meaning of accreditation by AACSB. There were 565,039 international students enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions in 2004-2005 (eduPASS). These students represent more than two hundred countries and were equally divided between those pursuing undergraduate degrees and those seeking graduate/professional degrees (edupass.org). Florida (2005, 99) provides an overview of the impact of foreign scholars on the economy of the U.S. i. Foreign-born scientists and engineers made up nearly a quarter of the science and engineering workforce (22 percent) in 2000, up from 14 percent in 1990. Foreign-born engineers make up about 40 percent of all U. S. engineering professors. ii. Between 1990 and 2000, the percentage of international students among all bachelor's-degree holders in the U.S. increased from 11 to 17 percent; the percentage with a master's degree from 19 to 29 percent; and PhDs from 24 to 38 percent. iii. By the early 2000s, nearly a third of all graduate students in science and engineering were from outside the United States, including more than half of all PhDs in engineering, computer science, life sciences, and the physical sciences. The continued growth of international scholars as consumers of U.S. higher education programs highlights the need to better understand this phenomenon. Previous research has examined factors that push a student to pursue educational opportunities abroad and pull the student to a particular host county (e.g., Mazzarol and Soutar, 2002; Lee and Tan, 1984; Agarwal and Winkler, 1985; McMahon, 1992). Although Mazzarol and Soutar (2002) investigate factors influencing institutional choice, the research stream has not been extended to business schools in particular. We investigate the relevance of previously identified factors to foreign scholars in their choice of a business school, given that an international student has decided to pursue a business degree in the U.S. In addition, we investigate whether international students understand the meaning of The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AASCB) accreditation and whether accreditation is a factor that international students report as important in the choice of a business school. LITERATURE REVIEW A significant stream of research has been amassed in an attempt to better understand the factors that influence the decision of individuals to pursue secondary education overseas rather than in their home country. While early studies commented on the post-World War II increase in international students, Cummings (1984) was one of the first to examine patterns of migration and immigration for secondary education. Subsequent research has increased the breadth of factors considered and the change across time. McMahon (1992) examined the expansive phase of international education that occurred during the 1960s and 1970s. The study hypothesized and found that the decision to study abroad by students from 18 developing nations could be explained by both push and pull factors; however, there were differences for the lower and higher income subsets, as well as, longitudinally. …