College of Law, Government and International Studies, Universiti Utara Malaysia.
Abstract
With the liberalization of Malaysia government policy in higher education services in the 1990s, student enrollment has increased substantially. This is evidenced by the number of private higher education institutions being set up in Malaysia. However, the higher education institutions (HEIs) are faced with a difficult situation of trying to understand how students select HEIs of their choice. This conceptual paper seeks to explore the criteria with which students select their HEIs and build a conceptual model to suit to the local higher education services industry. Factors influence student’s choice of HEIs are student characteristics, external influences, college attributes. Also, in the model, information satisfaction as a mediating variable is discussed. Areas for future research are highlighted
