An Empirical Study on Student’s Perceptions of Choice Criteria in the Selection of Degree Awarding Institutes with Foreign Affiliations in Sri Lanka

This research project aims to examine the information requirements and the importance of various types of information for potential students when selecting a university. Using data from 200 pupils studying at various degree awarding institutions with affiliations to foreign universities that are located inside Colombo, Sri Lanka with APIIT, ACBT, ANC, RI and IIT being the key institutions taken into the population. It also revealed that the ranking from the most important to the least important of factors and the statements relating to the factors that affect their selection of their degree awarding institute with foreign affiliations. Tertiary education has become more competitive in recent years due to reductions in government funding and higher student fees. As the nature of the environment grows more competitive, the role of marketing, previously non-existent in most universities, has grown significantly. One of the key pieces of information that would assist a university’s marketing effort is an understanding of what determines a student’s university preference. Results indicate that the four most important determinants of university preference were facilities provided, duration of the degree, cost of the degree, and teaching quality, which has significance for education managers developing marketing strategies and programs. Initial pilot study was completed and when it was checked for reliability, it recorded a Cronbach’s α value of 0.8157 which was very high considering as any value above 0.70 is considered to be very reliable. Friends Joining the same Uni (Mean Value: 2.4300), Duration of the degree program (Mean Value: 3.1200), Cost of the entire degree program (Mean Value: 3.5300) are considered to be the most important aspects, while Semester Break/Summer Holidays (Mean Value: 7.8300) and Friendliness of Locals in the area (Mean Value: 7.8950) are considered to be the least important aspects of selection criteria for the students in the selection of degree awarding institutions with foreign affiliations in Sri Lanka