What Motivates International Students for Higher Education: Insight from an International College in Thailand

Abstract

Studying abroad is one of the best ways students can acquire global skills and open up personal and professional opportunities. The world of Higher Education is now a global stage, very few subjects influence and effect such a diverse landscape from students to parents, employers to politicians, academics to a visiting countries indigenous people. This brief chapter looks at the key motivational factors for Higher Education choice for International Students within an International College in Thailand. It is a snapshot of the push/pull destination motivational factors/drivers that influence student choice. The internalisation of education has led to a Global Industry built on revenue and volume, but the market cannot ignore the human factors be it socio-economic, cultural proximity, domestic and international job prospects, family influences or even the apathy for a student’s home country’s educational institutions.