Reputation and information drivers in student recruitment: Comparing South African, Singaporean and Malaysian tertiary education

Abstract

Higher education across the globe is facing various changes, including commercialisation,
globalisation, funding restrictions and declining enrolment numbers; all translating in a higher level of
competition. Attracting quality students in this highly competitive education environment is crucial as
poor retention ratios is a reason for concern and government funding is consequently influenced
adversely. This paper examined and compared criteria related to the importance of reputation and
information to attract students in three different countries. Al three countries are in a sense, centres of
education where education is recognised as a crucial driving force and the accessibility of education is
politically important. The main findings amongst others are that the most important attributes for the
South African sample was the academic reputation of the institution, while the Malaysian sample
preferred the reputation of the study program. The Singaporean sample rated the marketing activities
as priority. Significant differences with regard to these outcomes were measured between all three
sample groups