Student university choice - a study of JUPAS entrants to a HKSAR university

The rapid expansion of university places in Hong Kong between the late 1980s and the middle of 1990s has brought about a number of changes to the local higher education scene. Primary among these changes is the increased choice of university education for students. Along with the widened choice, new consumer groups and a more competitive market environment are created. Consequently higher educational institutions have to place more emphasis on promoting and marketing their own programmes and courses.;It appears that a wide array of student recruitment activities take place without a systematic analysis of the factors affecting student university choice. The lack of local research on university choice suggests that researching into this area to examine students' decision-making process would be worthwhile.;This study presents the findings of a questionnaire survey of 1,684 first-year undergraduate entrants to a university in Hong Kong. Two sets of data were collected: first, the importance of twenty-eight identified factors in affecting student university choice; second, the students' rating of the University on these factors.;The study aims to identify the influential factors in student university choice, and measure the strengths and weaknesses of the surveyed University against these factors.