Chi et al., 2019
Evaluation of the curriculum. For the curriculum
CONCLUSION
factor, students gave a rather high overall score with
an average of 3.744 (SD=0.912). In which, the most
appreciated aspect is “the institution with an
intensive/advanced curriculum tailored to students’
needs” (3.823) and the lowest “the courses/subjects
with diversity of contents and structure for students’
choice” (3.560). It is an interesting finding as the
respondents are students preparing for college. This
shows that students are getting gradually matured
in their choice of curriculum. They consider the need
for intensive study and advanced research to acquire
knowledge.
Assessments of facilities and resources. The
results show that the score given by students with
good academic performance is 3.894 (SD=0.944) on
the 5-point scale. In which, the most appreciated
aspect is the “high-quality, experienced teaching
staff” (3.958) and the lowest “learning environment
for students” (3.770). Students care more about the
teaching staff with good and practical teaching
experience. This reflects the fact that students
evaluate the teachers as a decisive key.
The research shows that high school students rank
tertiary institutions’ attributes in ascending order:
the first is the material and resources in which the
quality of teaching staff is most concerned. The
second is the value of education of institutions on the
basis of the recognition by prestigious academic
rating agencies. The third is the tuition and financial
aid policies, in which financial aid being the most
important. The fourth is the information on career
and academic curriculum due to students’ interest in
higher level of education information for their
acquisition of knowledge. Last but not least is the
emphasis
on
intensive/advanced
academic
programs. Basing on the findings, education
managers, university administrators will be
improving the quality of tertiary education services
for better satisfaction of students’ needs. In
recognition of strengths, weaknesses of the
institution, they will sort out an appropriate
enrollment strategy. On the side of high school
students, the study also indicates the “maturity” in
their choice, reflects their confidence in profoundly
evaluation of universities' attributes. However, this
study bears certain limitations; that is it only reflects
choice criteria of students with intention of selecting
their upcoming tertiary institution. Therefore, a
future research will focus on assessment of the
perfectness of the IPA, including the evaluation of
the degrees of implementing attributes.
Importance of value of education. The value of
education of choice institutions was rated at a high
level with an average score of 3,885 (SD=0.834).
Accordingly, the most appreciated aspect is “schools
with accredited academic programs” (4.047) and the
lowest is “the institutions with prestige training
program” (3.715). The value of education of tertiary
institutions manifests itself in many aspects. It is not
only
recognized
by
students,
businesses/
organizations but also highly appreciated by other
prestigious academic institutions.
DECLARATIONS
Authors’ Contributions
Information on career and academic curriculum.
Information about institution was rated at a quite
high level with an average score of 3.785 (SD=0.929)
on a 5-point scale. The top score is for “institutions
with information on post graduate or higher
education courses” (3.795); and the lowest for
“institutions with information on students’
study/research filed” (3.778). This study directed at
high school students who have enough conditions to
choose which university to enroll so the information
on higher education courses is most interested.
According to qualitative research, students tend to
think that institutions having master's degree
training courses in cooperation with overseas
institutions will take the advantage.
All authors contributed equally to this work.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no
competing interests.
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Barsky, J.D (1995). World–Class Customer
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Chicago, IL, Irwin Publishing.
Chapman D (1981). A model of student college choice.
Journal of Higher Education, 52(5): 490–505.
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