Factors affecting students’ choices of tertiary institutions in small island developing economies

ABSTRACT

This paper attempts to identify factors influencing students’ choices of higher education institution in Mauritius. Social exchange theory was used as theoretical foundation. A survey was conducted with students at tertiary level in Mauritius. A partial least square structural equation modelling was used to identify factors affecting students’ choices of higher education institution in Mauritius. The study revealed that factors like physical environment, transitional support and word of mouth have a significant positive influence on students’ choices. Nevertheless, this study also revealed that educational quality and support facilities do not have a significant effect on students’ choice in the country. Future research can make use of additional factors to provide more predictive power to the model.

KEYWORDS:

• Higher education
• students’ choice
• quality in higher education
• social exchange theory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Editor’s note. This study uses parametric analysis with ordinal scale data. Although this is a widely adopted practice, this does not make it correct procedure.