Abstract

This study aimed to identify the push and pull factors which influence the enrolment of international students in Malaysian public universities. The sample study consisted of 320 international students who were studying in various academic programmes at Bachelor’s, Masters and PhD levels in Public Institutions of Higher Learning in Malaysia. The factor analysis method or specifically the factor component analysis was utilised to ascertain whether an item can be categorised according to the same features i.e. measuring the same characteristics as well as deleting items which were not relevant with this study. Additionally, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett Sphericity tests were conducted to measure the significance of each item in the variable used.The findings showed that the factor analysis managed to extract 3 push factors which were the overseas experience factor, the education quality factor and the social factor which influenced the students’ decision to study abroad to a total of 60 percent. Additionally, the factor analysis also extracted 3 pull factors which were the comfort factor, the lifestyle factor and the country specialty factor which influenced international students’ enrolment in Malaysia’s public university to a total of 51 percent. This showed that the pull and push factors were all vital in influencing international students’ enrolment in Malaysian public universities. The study findings were expected to assist the policy makers especially the Ministry of Higher Education as well as institutions of higher learning to identify the factors considered by the international students in choosing Malaysia as a destination of choice for continuing their studies.

Key words: Push-pull factors; enrolment; international students; Malaysian Higher Learning; Factor Analysis.