Student Preference on Choice of Higher Education Institutions: A Case Study of Royal University of Bhutan, Bhutan

Making a right choice for tertiary level education is very crucial. This paper aims to uncover the factors that students deem crucial related to their preference of higher education institutions and desired courses. Cross sectional survey design was adopted for this study. A total of 287 data (124male, 163 females; age range 18-38 year) of first year undergraduate students were collected from four government colleges under Royal University of Bhutan. Stratified random sampling technique was used to collect structured questionnaire based on 5-point Likert scale. The study applied simple descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression model to verify the importance given by students to the influencing factors and predict the relationship between the predetermined factors and students’ choice of higher education institutions. Results showed a model fit R value of 0.678 and the Durbin Watson test statistic was 1.723. Factors including student attribute, social influence, financial aid, and higher institute characteristics all were identified to have a positive influence on the students’ preference of higher education institution choice. Strategies like promotion of the higher education institution need to be emphasized through various media channels to strengthen effective recruitment in higher education institution.