TOWARD INTERNATIONALIZATION OF ONLINE HIGHER EDUCATION: A STUDY OF AN IRANIAN UNIVERSITY

Internationalization of higher education is one of the main concerns in developing countries like IRAN. Since the improvement of international activities is one of the main visions of the investigated university, the result of this study will be helpful for its managers and policymakers. This research seeks two main goals: 1 Planning improvements to services provided to international students involved with the investigated University. 2 Discovering student needs and requirements that should be considered in online educational program planning and designing. Research population consists of 1000 international student, which 317 research samples chose and their needs identified using a questionnaire with 30 questions With the Quality Function Deployment method (QFD) as a main tool for analysing data. In the next step, QFD technical team and international programs specialists recognized corresponding solutions. Following that, quality matrix and group decision-making techniques used to identify the solutions with highest scores as a road map to fulfil the major needs of customers (international students). Eventually, the items shortlisted which managers need to keep in mind to satisfy existent customers and plan for potential customers. On this basis, solutions were scored. The results show that international financial transactions issues in Iran and continuous improvements in services provided to international students scored the highest among 22 Solutions, which should be considered in planning for the international services at the university.