Factors influencing students' choice towards private universities Research Paper

Factors influencing students' choice towards private universities - Research Paper Example Malaysian universities offered similar facilities in their colleges at a much lower cost with the sole aim of luring in the students going to Australia and New Zealand for higher studies. The Klang Valley region in Malaysia, also known as the Kaula Lumpur Metropolitan, became the hub many foreign students visiting the country for higher studies. There are nearly 7.5 million people in this region with ample number of students. At present there are over 8000 foreign students in the area. The Klang valley is connected to its neighbouring suburbs and cities through well structured RapidKL Light Rail Transit (LRT) and various other road and rail services. The infrastructure of the area is highly responsible for its flourishing trade and increasing number of HEIs in the area. Klang Valley can be reached easily from any part of Kaula Lampur and the adjoining cities. Malaysia has over 16 private universities and more than 4 foreign collaboration universities. Most of them are situated in the Klang Valley region of the Selangor state. The number of foreign students in the country increase from just hundreds in 1990’s to more than 12500 in 1999 after the introduction of the Higher Education Act in 1996. The Malaysian government’s liberalization policy in education attracted both foreign students and local students equally. However, foreign students who had more choices were targeted specifically by the HEI's in Malaysia. The private universities in Malaysia were mostly small self-financing colleges until the early 1990's. They grew massively like mushrooms in a rainy season only by mid-1990. The IT revolution which transformed the economy of many eastern countries was partly responsible for this. The...From the student perspective they are wide variety of technology oriented courses starting from 6 months duration to full-fledged management courses ranging for nearly three years or more. They feel the courses offered in the Malaysian universities are much e asier to complete as the teaching method is more or less similar to the Korean education system. Whereas the western universities offer only selected courses and limited time to complete the same in student visa. Further, the academic standards expected by the Western universities are also very high. Obtaining a degree from the foreign collaboration university in Malaysia is much easier than studying directly in the western countries and it still gives them a competitive edge over others having degrees from domestic universities. Culture, cost and the chances to win better jobs easily are the three main push factors attracting high number of Korean students towards the Malaysian HEIs.