EDUCATIONAL MARKETING: FACTORS INFLUENCING THE SELECTION OF A UNIVERSITY

Competition in the higher education sector is forcing the higher educational institutions (HEI) to develop more competitive marketing strategies. For developing universities marketing strategies HEI need to understand the student choice process of a university. Understanding university choice process is not easy, this process involves complex decision which affects students’ life (future career, friends, residence, etc.). Therefore, this paper presents a conceptual framework to explore the factors that influence university choice decision, in general, by investigating factors, relevant in literature, which most influence this decision. Among the factors identified are: institutional reputation, cost, employment opportunities, parents’ influence, educational offer, location. This study has been done in order to find the most important factors that influence choice of a university among Romanian students.