EDUTOURISM: EXPLORING THE PUSH-PULL FACTORS IN SELECTING A UNIVERSITY

Students around the world have recognised Malaysia as the preferred choice for college and tertiary education because of its low cost of living and high quality education. Several underlying factors also contribute to their decision in selecting a university. However, a thorough understanding of the selection process by international students in the Malaysian context has yet to be done. Hence, a preliminary study was conducted to understand the factors that motivate these students to choose Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) as their institute of higher learning. A total of 130 respondents ranging from undergraduate and PhD students participated in the study. From the analysis, pull factor such as "institution image" significantly influenced the satisfaction level of the international students to choose UKM. Meanwhile, push factor of "job prospect" significantly influenced these students to recommend UKM as a study destination.