Factors influencing Non-European

students decisions to select a

university

TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.
Introduction
2
1. A brief outline of BCU Business
School.2
2. Purpose of the study
.2
II. Methothology

..2
1. Design
approach
2
2. Sample
design

..2
III.
Summary
of
the
key
findings
.3
IV.
Conclusions
..
5
V.Recommendations
.5
Appendices

..6
References
10

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I.

Introduction
1. A brief review of the two Universities
The two chosen universities in this study were the Imperial College

London (ICL) and the Birmingham City Business School (BCU Business School).
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London,
United Kingdom. This university is currently ranked 8th of top universities with
best quality in the world. Imperial College London got its reputation for the
excellence in teaching and research, attracting students and staff of the highest
international quality. Imperial College London is the only UK uinversity to focus
entirely on science, engineering, medicine andy

business (Top Universities

(2016))
Birmingham City Business School is a school within Birmingham City
University. It is one of the largest business schools in the UK. The school offers
courses of various majors relating to business, law and social sciences
(Wikipedia, 2016). The Business School is highly recognised for the quality of its
academic programmes. A significant amount of its provision has accreditation
from professional bodies such as Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
(ACCA), and Charted Institute of Marketing (CIM). The most challenging problem
of this school is to get more students undertaking Higher Education in Business.
2. Purpose of the study
This research aims at exploring the factors that influence secondary school
students choice of higher education options in two universities in UK, i.e the
Imperial College London and Birmingham City Business School. The results of the
study helps the chosen institutions attract more students.
II.
Methodology
1. Design approach:
2 | Page

This study employs a quantitative approach using questionnaires to

demonstrate the hypothesis and achieve the objectives. A questionnaire
consisting of twenty questions has been prepared for this study.
2. Sample Design
The sample design approach in the study was kind of nonprobability sampling.
By using this approach, participants are recruited basing on their availability
(e.g., because they volunteered). Further more, the researcher personally judged
that these students are representative. To be more specific, this study employed
a convenience sample, one of the most common types of nonprobability sample.
According to Chris C (2011), convenience sample is developed for the
convenience of the process. The reason for this choice is that not because such
samples are necessarily easy to select, but because the researcher used
whatever individuals are available rather than selecting from the entire
population. A number 20 students participated in the study,including 10 at the
Imperial College London, 10 at the Birmingham City Business School. The sample
size from each institution was large enough to permit statistical analysis of the
data and at the same time small enough to be practical for data collection. The
researcher asked for volunteers during the registration with the cooperation of
the participating universities. Regarding to the ethical issue, the study was
approved by the Ethics Committee of the two universities of Birmingham City
Business School and the Imperial College London. Permission to gather data at
the two universities was accquired after submitting a final draft of the
questionnaire to each institution.
The personal interviews with 20 students was conducted to gain completed
questionnaires. Interviews were administered to students at the University of
during orientation sessions held in June 2016. The researcher collected

20

completed questionnaires at two orientation sessions.

III.

Summary of the key Findings

The study involved 20 participants: 10 at the Birmingham City Business School

and 10 at the university of Imperial College London. The results of the analyses
were amazing. However this report purposefully indicates some typically relevant
findings for marketing decesion making.
Characteristics of Students
Females formed the majority of participants at each university. The percentage
distribution illustrated in Figure 1 indicate that 62% from ICL and 76% from BCU

3 | Page

were female. The high percentage of females could be attributed to the

collection venues; females may also be more likely
to volunteer (Borg & Gall, 1983)

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Male
Female

Figu
re 1: Percentage of Female and Male responses
Sources of Information and Influence and factors of significance
Several sources and factors were rated highly by students at the two
universities. There were some differences among the responses of students from
the two universities (see Table 1 and 2). Students who attended the Imperial
College Lodon appeared to be influenced by reputation of the institution variety
of courses, and teaching staffs. The reputation of the university tended to
dominate the decision making process. Rating the reputation of the school as a
very influential factor in the selection process is intellectually a more respectable
response. Students from this university also reported that publication about the
institution from websites were the most important source of information and
influence. This rating perhaps could be attributed to the role of communication
and marketing strategies most researchers believed to play in attracting a great
number of students into the institution.
Students at BCU Business School rated the most important sources of
information and influence as follows: 1) publication (73%), 2) campus visits
(61%),

and

3)

relatives(52%).

The

most

important

factors

were:

1)

student/professor ratio (73%), 2) reputation of university (70%), 3) scholarship

available (68%) and 4) tuitition cost (59%)
4 | Page

It can be seen from the table that data from both institutions share the common
point that mothers have himportant role to students choice of university. Results
from analysis of family educational background also revealed that those students
whose mothers level of education is high tended to influenced greatly on the
decision of their chidlren ( see Appendix 4 and 5)
Table 1: Percentage of Respondents at Each Institution
Indicating Relative Importance of Sources of Information
and Influence
The Imperal College London
BCU Business
School
______________________________________________________________________________
Source of information
and influence
N
High Low
N
High
Low
Mother
6
74
10
6
77
11
Father
5
57
8
4
52
9
campus visits
8
55
17
7
61
13
University presentative
10
27
45
4
15
13
Phone call
7
21
66
10
19
32
Letter
3
45
9
5
43
14
Publication
(University websites)
10
81
11
9
73
12
Students recommendation
7
65
18
8
26
53
- Chi-square significance at p< .05
Percents will not add up to 100 because middle category is omitted
( Category 1 &2 of the ranking items in the questionnair was combined as
high importance, category 4 & 5 was combined as low importance,
category 3 was maintain as neutral importance)
Table 2: Percentage of Respondents at Each Institution
Indicating Significance of Selected Factors
__________________________________________________________________________________
The Imperal College London
School
Factors of Significance
High Low
Teaching staff
7
Tuition cost
Scholarship available
22
Reputation of institution
Variety of courses offered
Students/proffessor ratio
Athletic opportunities
30
Preparation for after graduation
41
Cost of living
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10
10
9
6

BCU

Business

High Low

76

10

84

61
8

10
41

59
5

13
68

88
69
27
4

11
12
10
34

9
8
4
22

70
45
73
3

10
21
9
19

58

13

32

41

12

47

11

8
16

10

Chi-scuare significance at p< .05

Percents will not add up to 100 because middle category is omitted
( Category 1 &2 of the ranking items in the questionnaire was combined as
high importance, category 4 & 5 was combined as low importance,
category 3 was maintain as neutral importance)
Findings from qualitative analysis

Two open questions in Part D asked students to state the single most important
reason for selecting the university they were attending and to share their opinion
on how they felt about the choice. Students at both institutions gave responses
with a variety of reasons; however, closeness to home, program availability, and
reputation of program were the most mentioned reasons. Most students stated
they were satisfied or pleased with their choice. Several added that it was also a
"scary" experience.
IV.

Conclusion

The results of the study confirmed our first hypothesis that the primary factors
influencing students choice of a university were the quality of its teaching and
its excellence and reputation. In this sense, we are in line with the results of
studies done by the researchers Soutar and Turner (2002), Maringe (2006), and
Holsworth and Nind (2005), work in which the factors of reputation, excellence,
and quality of teaching staff were vital in for students who were choosing a
University. Survey respondents stressed the importance of the reputation of the
institution, variety of courses offers, tuitition cost, and the direct input of friends
and family members, and also stated their preference for using virtual tools such
as Internet search, university websites, and social networks to research their
options.
V.

Recommendation

This study has indicated how reputation, excellence, and perceived quality are
determining factors for choosing a University of the two investigated universities.
Accordingly, the Communication and Marketing departments of Universities
should work hard to project those attributes in all the communication that they
produce. Future research into this area can go deeper into how Universities
project those intangibles onto various supports, and what aspects of the
intangible upon which Universities base to position those intangibles with future
students. Another aspect of interest for future approaches to the subject would
be to determine the extent to which the cost of registration has an effect on the
choice of a public or private University.

6 | Page

APPENDIX
Appendix 1: Grade 12 Average
Table 1
Self-reported Grade 12 Averages of Respondent
University
Imperial College London
BCU Business School

Mean
83.02
73.79

Median
82.00
73.00

Mode
82.00
60

Range
70.00-97.00
60.00-89.00

SD
6.38
8.49

Appendix 2: Degree
When students were asked to state the degree sought, 16 choices were
mentioned ( see Table
Table 2
Percentage Distribution of Respondents at
Each Institution by Degree Sought
__________________________________________________________________________________
Degrees

Imperial College London

N=10

BCU Business School

N=10

__________________________________________________________________________________
Science

56%

67%

Education

27%

13%

Engineering

13%

21%

Pharmacy

33%

15%

Commerce

12%

21%

Management

34%

Law

45%

16%

48%

% Total of responses

Appendix 3: Distance from Home

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100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%

ICL
BCU Business
School

Figure 1: Comparision of Respondents at two institutions on Distance from Family

Home to School
Total
responses
%%
Total
of of
responses

Appendix 4: Education level of Fathers

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

ILC
BCU Business
School

Figure 2: Comparision of Respondents on Educational level of Father

Appendix 5: Education level of Mother
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

ILC
BCU Business
School

Figure 3: Comparision of Respondents on Educational level of

Mother

Survey of First- Year University Students

Please response to the following items by checking the appropriate response
PART A

1. FAMILY EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Please indicate the highest level of formal education achieved by your parents.
Put a tick on the space next to the appropriate description for each parent.
Father
8 | Page

Mother

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Less than high school

Some high school
Graduated from high school
College or apprenticeship training
Professional diploma (e.g RN)
Bachelors degree (e.g. B.A., B, Sc)
Advanced degree (M.Ed, M.B.A, M.D)
Other (please specify)

_______
_______
_______
_______
_______
_______
_______
_______

______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______

Have your family members attended this university ?

9. Mother
Yes_____ No_____ 11. Brother(s)
No____
10.Father
Yes_____ No_____ 12. Sister(s)
Yes____

Yes____
No____

13.
Mothers
occupation

is

14.
Fathers
occupation
is
..
2. STUDENTS BACKGROUND INFORMATION
1. Sex:

Male_____________

Female:

_______________

2. What was your grade 12 average? ___________________________________

3. What degree do you hope to earn at this University? _____________________
4. How far is this University from your family home? _____________________km
PART B

SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND INFLUENCE

The following is a list of persons or contacts which may have influenced you
when making a choice of university to attend. Please indicate the degree of
importance of each item by circling the appropriate number according to the
following scale
5
4
3
2
1
0

High importance
moderate importance
low importance
not importance
Very

important
1. Teachers
5
2. Relatives ( mother, fathers,
friends, brothers, sisters, etc)
3. Recommendation of former students
0
4. Visits to campus
5
5. College publications
9 | Page

Not
Important
4
5

4
5

3
4

2
3

1
2

0
1

3
4

2
3

1
2

0
1

6. Personal letter from institution

5
4
3
2
1
0
7. Phone call from the institution
5
4
3
2
1
0
8. Other (please specify and rate)_________
5
4
3
2
1
0
_________
5
4
3
2
1
0
PART C
OTHER FACTORS OF SIGNIFICANCE
The following is a list of factors you may have considered when you were
making your choice of a university you attend. Please indicate the degree of
importance of each item by circling the appropriate number according to the
following scale
5
High importance
4
3
moderate importance
2
1
low importance
0
not importance
Very
Not
Important
important
9. Location (e.g size of city or town
5
4
3
2
1
0
10.Tuition cost
5
4
3
2
1
0
11. Scholarship available
5
4
3
2
1
0
12. Reputation of institution
5
4
3
2
1
0
13. Variety of courses offered
5
4
3
2
1
0
14. Student/ professor ratio
5
4
3
2
1
0
15. Athletic opportunities
5
4
3
2
1
0
16. Preparation for after graduation
5
4
3
2
1
0
17. Cost of living
5
4
3
2
1
0
18. Other important factors you considered
______________________________
5
4
3
2
1
0
____________________________
5
4
3
2
1
0
PART D
FINAL CHOICE
19. What was the most determining factor in the selection of the University you
are currently attending?
_____________________________________________________________________________
20. How did you feel now about your choice of a university?
____________________________________________________________________________

REFERENCES
-

Borg, W. R., & Gall, M. D. (1983). Educational research: An introduction

(4th ed.) New York: Longman.
Chris C (2011), Market Research and Non-Probabilistic Sampling Methods
[Online]. Retrieved on July 19 2016 from

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https://rmsbunkerblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/21/market-research-andnon-probabilistic-sampling-methods/
Imperial College London. Available from:
http://www.topuniversities.com/universities/imperial-college-london
Holsworth, D.W & Nind, D. (2005). Choice modelling New Zealand high
school seniors' preferences for university education. Journal of Marketing

for Higher Education, Vol 15, No 2, pp 81-104.

Maringe, F. (2006). University & Course

Choice:

positioning,

International

recruitment

and

marketing.

Implications
Journal

for
of

Educational Management, Vol 20, No 6, pp 466-479

Soutar, G.N; Turner, J.P (2002). Students preferences for university: A
conjoint analysis. International Journal of Educational Management, Vol

16, No 1, pp 40-45
Wikipedia. (2016) Birmingham City Business School. Available from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_City_Business_School.
[Accessed: 19th July 2016]

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