| dc.description.abstract | University education is one of the key drivers of economic, social and political
development of the world hence its increase in demand. Universities are faced
with the challenge of attracting and retaining students. The purpose of this study
was to investigate the factors that influence students’ choice of universities at
South Eastern Kenya University and University of Nairobi. The objective of the
study was so to determine: the extent to which accessibility to universities,
university’s flexibility in fee payment, marketing strategies and its geographical
location influence students’ choice of University of Nairobi and South Eastern
Kenya University. Descriptive survey research design was employed in the study
of 2210 students from both University of Nairobi and South Eastern Kenya
University. Among undergraduate students in their first year of study, 385
respondents were sampled randomly. Using questionnaires administered to them,
data was collected to determine those factors that influenced their choice for the
universities. Quantitative data was analyzed using frequency counts and
percentages while qualitative data was analyzed by tallying the number of similar
responses. Results of data were presented using frequency distribution tables. The
study established that accessibility to an institution was the most influential factor
students considered while choosing the university for student with 70 percent
non-financial accessibility. University reputation which was made by the
specialized programmes a university offered and employing marketing strategies
to make it famous was rated second in preference. Flexibility in fee payment had
a lesser influence on students’ choice of the universities. The study therefore
concluded that students require easily accessible universities whose information
can be obtained through proper marketing before making a choice for it. The
study recommended the need to increase understanding of the importance of
employing various strategies to attract students to a university. Secondly, the
personnel working on students during selection process ought to know the process
of selection and the influential factors to students’ choice of universities and
courses. Thirdly, Universities need to guide and inform career counselors in
primary and secondary schools on specialized programmes to particular
universities, structure of time of study, flexibility in fee payment among others
which in turn influence their choices. The factors studied had a strong implication
of attracting more students to the universities and reducing inter-university
transfers. | en_US |
