Prestige, quality and a specific offer of study programmes are most important in the decision for a university.
Question 17: How important are the following aspects for selecting a university / a higher education institution in the destination country?
“When choosing a university, parents want to be informed about the university’s reputation, teaching quality and the level of tuition fees. It is important to note that Chinese parents pay a lot of attention to ranking. Even if certain rankings of foreign universities are not directly related to its teaching quality, they still prefer to choose the highest ranked institutions for their children.” (Country report China)
Prestige, quality and a specific offer of study programmes are most important in the decision for a university. The vast majority of the students from the target countries stated the general prestige of the university in terms of quality of education and research (91%) and the offer of specific programmes in the own area of specialisation (90%) as most important criteria. The affordability of tuition fees, the level of support and advice given to foreign students and modern and technologically advanced teaching and learning methods (81% each) are also major decision criteria.
Well-organised study programmes (76%), transparent and simple admission procedures (74%) and suitable accommodation on or near the campus (67%) are important for more than two thirds of the students. Slightly less important were study programmes taught in English (61%), attractiveness of the city in which the university is located (58%) and a campus with students from many different nationalities (46%).
A comparison of the major reasons of students from individual target countries shows some noteworthy differences (see Table 2.13):
– Chinese are especially concerned with high prestige of the university (see also quote from the country report above) but are less interested in modern teaching and learning methods. Indians also emphasize the reputation of universities but different to Chinese they are also looking for technologically advanced teaching and learning methods (87%) and for study programmes taught in English (85%). Thai students put slightly less emphasis on the reputation of universities and the level of support provided to international students but more often than students from most other countries stated English-language-taught programmes (80%), suitable accommodation near the campus and an attractive city as important criteria for the selection of a university. Again, the survey results confirm the findings from the workshops which suggested that Indian and Thai students would almost exclusively be interested in English-taught programmes.
– Brazilians more often highlighted transparent and simple admission procedures and less often study programmes taught in English than other students. Mexicans also were less interested in English-language-taught-degree programmes but most often considered offers in their fields of study and the level of support and advice as crucial. Interviews with the parents widely confirmed the students’ views. Most Mexican parents, for example, stated that a university “must offer the program the children are looking for”, or that it “must offer the desired program with good services at a low costs”. The lower interest in English-taught programmes (at least in non-English-speaking countries) is in line with the workshop results for both Latin-American target countries. Often, a country with a Romance language is favoured because of greater cultural and linguistic affinity.
– Russians put less emphasis on the level of support and on transparent admission procedures but more than students from other countries take the attractiveness of the city into account in which the university is located.
Table 2.13 (All students from the target countries)
Reasons for selecting the host university / higher education institution - importance by country of origin (percentages*) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Country of origin Total
Brazil ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ China India Mexico Russia Thailand
General prestige of the institution / quality of
education and research 93 95 95 94 86 84 91
It offers specific programmes / courses in my area
of specialisation 90 92 89 95 87 86 90
Level of support / advice given to international
students 82 80 83 87 74 76 81
Affordability of the course / tuition fees 79 81 82 85 86 77 81 Modern and technologically advanced
teaching and learning methods 81 70 87 85 79 84 81 It offers well-organised study programmes
of limited duration 75 80 81 76 77 70 76
Transparent and simple admission procedures
to study programmes 79 76 78 77 61 71 74
Easy to get suitable accommodation on or
near the campus 64 54 72 76 66 75 67
Study programmes / courses are taught in English 46 58 85 47 62 80 61
Attraction of living in the city where the institution
is located 52 47 50 64 69 67 58
Students are from many different nationalities 50 35 46 48 43 54 46
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Count (n) (3152) (2567) (1603) (2445) (1803) (2499) (14069)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Source: Student questionnaire on "Perceptions of European Higher Education in Third Countries"
Question 17: How important are the following aspects for selecting a university / a higher education institution in the destination country?
Sample: Students responding to paper based surveys and respondents to the online survey * Points 1 and 2 on a scale from 1 = "Very important" to 5 = "Not important at all"
For students aiming to study in the US and Australia it was more important that programmes were taught in English (71 and 79% respectively) than for those going to Europe (56%). However, the European average hides important differences by destination country: while programmes taught in English were fairly unimportant for students going to the major non- English-speaking European destinations like Germany (46%) or France 40%), it was very important for those respondents aiming to study in the UK, in one of the Nordic countries, in the Netherlands or in a new EU member state (73-84%).
Technologically advanced teaching methods were more crucial in Natural and Technical Sciences than in Humanities or Social Sciences (84% as compared to 78%) while students in the latter disciplines were more interested in studying in an attractive city.
Respondents to the global online survey found most criteria slightly more often important than students from the target countries (see table 2.13). The order of importance of various aspects is
very similar for the global survey. Students from Asian countries but also from Sub-Saharan Africa put considerable emphasis on study programmes taught in English (83 and 77% respectively) while students from Latin America stressed this point less often (49%), thus confirming the results from the target countries.
Table 2.13 (Respondents to the global online survey from non-target countries)
Reasons for selecting the host university / higher education institution - importance by country of origin (percentages*) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Country of origin Total
Other Other Africa North North Aus-
Asia Latin Sub- Africa America tralia,
America sahara and Oceania
Middle
East
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
General prestige of the institution / quality of
education and research 94 94 92 91 73 74 90
It offers specific programmes / courses in
my area of specialisation 93 97 94 87 92 91 93
Level of support / advice given to
International students 89 89 91 88 77 70 87
Affordability of the course / tuition fees 89 79 80 81 80 80 83 Modern and technologically advanced
teaching and learning methods 91 88 94 88 65 71 87 It offers well-organised study programmes
of limited duration 83 79 83 71 61 70 78
Transparent and simple admission procedures
to study programmes 84 88 89 75 68 70 82
Easy to get suitable accommodation on or
near the campus 68 72 68 73 73 69 70
Study programmes / courses are taught
in English 83 49 77 67 60 66 69
Attraction of living in the city where the
institution is located 56 59 47 55 71 76 57
Students are from many different
nationalities 59 49 69 47 45 35 55
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Count (n) (705) (542) (503) (273) (244) (87) (2354)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Source: Student questionnaire on "Perceptions of European Higher Education in Third Countries"
Question 17: How important are the following aspects for selecting a university / a higher education institution in the destination country?
Sample: Students responding to the online survey
The results of the US survey (see table 2.14) reveal an interesting pattern. Overall, the rank order of criteria is similar, however
– Affordability of tuition fees is considered as less important (44%);
– The possibility to receive financial aid from the university is the third most important criterion, and of particular importance for Chinese and Indians (74 and 87% respectively);
– Together with the offer of specific programmes in the student’s area of specialisation, the level of support provided to international students is the second most important criterion for Chinese students studying in the US and comes right after the institution’s prestige.
Table 2.14 (International Students in the US)
Reasons for selecting the host university - importance by home region (percentages*) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Region of origin Total
Europe Latin Africa North China India Other Other
America Sub- Africa Asia (Canada/
Sahara and Austra- Middle lia/ East Oceania)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
General prestige of the institution/ quality of
education and research 58 68 69 64 86 76 88 56 72
It offers specific programmes/courses in the
area of specialisation 69 83 72 73 78 83 79 89 77
Possibility to receive financial aid from the
host university 55 65 66 63 74 87 53 44 63
Level of support/ advice given to international
students 45 50 62 63 78 54 64 44 57
Affordability of the course/tuition fees 36 38 48 42 42 54 52 56 44 Modern and technologically advanced
teaching and learning methods 41 51 70 52 66 66 72 67 58 It offers well-organised study programmes
of limited duration 33 43 50 48 61 66 67 67 52
Transparent and simple admission procedures
to study programmes 35 38 59 52 40 59 60 33 47
Easy to get suitable accommodation on or
near the campus 28 35 52 43 22 33 41 67 35
Attraction of living in the city where the
institution is located 43 17 38 50 27 31 47 33 37
Students are from many different nationalities 28 36 38 52 24 47 50 22 38
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Count (n) (111) (53) (29) (27) (51) (53) (89) (9) (422)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Source: Survey on international students in the United States
Question 15: How important were the following aspects for selecting your host university/a higher education institution in the United States?
* Points 1 and 2 on a scale from 1 = "very important" to 5 = "not important at all"
Education staff were also asked about the importance of transparent and simple admission procedures to study programmes and English as the language of instruction for students and parents when selecting the host university. By and large the results from the student survey
were confirmed, i.e. both aspects were considered as relevant by the majority of respondents and transparency of admission procedures were rated as slightly more important than courses taught in English (see table 2.15).
Table 2.15 (All education staff from the target countries)
Reasons for selecting the host university and the destination country - importance by country of origin (percentages*) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Country of origin Total
Brazil ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ China India Mexico Russia Thailand
Quality of higher education/reputation of
universities in general 97 90 98 99 90 85 91
Academic qualification / degrees from the
country are recognised all over the world 92 88 97 75 89 82 86 Existence of exchange programmes between
institutions in home country and institutions
in the destination country 86 59 56 83 79 57 67
Affordability of cost of living and tuition fees 73 77 91 81 87 85 83 International students can easily get
work permissions 31 60 74 53 64 63 59
Personal safety and security while studying
in the destination country 67 73 89 61 80 85 77
Lifestyle, cultural opportunities, e.g. art,
fashion, nightlife 52 40 49 27 49 52 45
Home qualification are accepted and allows
to pursue the studies wanted 68 60 92 71 64 70 69
Transparent and simple admission
procedures to study programmes 79 65 89 65 70 70 71
Study programmes / courses are taught
in English 40 64 92 67 55 74 67
Personal contacts to professors, teachers etc. in the destination country,
e.g. through prior visits 73 41 73 56 60 62 58
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Count (n) (103) (251) (124) (167) (167) (358) (1170)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Source: Survey on teaching staff, international officers and educational agents
Question 10: How important are the following aspects to you when advising students / parents in their choice of a destination country?
* Points 1 and 2 on a scale from 1 = "Very important" to 5 = "Not important at all"
A comparison of the ratings of education staff from individual target countries shows in most cases similar patterns as in the case of the students:
– Education staff from India most often underlined both, the importance of transparent admission procedures (89%) and English as language of instruction;
– Thais put a higher weight on courses in English than on admission procedures (74% and 70%);
– Brazilians and Russians least often considered courses in English as important (40% and 55%) but were concerned about simple admission (79% and 70%);
– Chinese and Mexican education staff considered both aspects as similar important (about two thirds each).
Substantial differences between students and education staff could be found in the case of China and Mexico. Students from both countries considered courses in English less often as important and put more emphasis on transparent and simple admission procedures than staff members.
2.2.6 What are the main problems and obstacles international students are facing?