The Role of Information Sources and Requirements in Students’ Choice of Higher Education Destination: A Study from a New Emerging Higher Education Hub

Attracting and enrolling international students have become the primary concern of marketing efforts of higher education institutions. For this purpose, understanding the decision-making process of students is vital. Beside much research about factors affecting international students’ choice available in literature, little is known about what international students seek to acknowledge and prioritize in terms of information sources and requirements.This study, examines the information sources, requirements, and choice factors of international students who study their higher education in an emerging higher education destination. This study is conducted through a quantitative approach, based on both Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). A survey was conducted with first-year overseas students. These students were targeted since they have the most recent experience on how they took the decision to choose the university to study. Data for the survey is collected by two sets of questionnaires (A & B). Questionnaire A is designed to gather data about information sources and requirements of first-year overseas students studying in a state university of North Cyprus. Questionnaire B is used for prioritizing information sources and requirements of overseas students. University websites are identified as the most used sources of information. According to the study’s findings, job and scholarship opportunities are identified as the first and most crucial concern of international students. This study is of particular significance for universities in newly emerging higher education destinations to gain a better understanding of decision-making process of students that will enable them to design effective recruitment and communication strategies. Keywords: international students, higher education, information requirements, information sources.