Determinants of Students' Decisions in Choosing Studies in Non-religious Programs in Islamic Higher Education Institution

Abstract

The need for higher education is increasing, because of the demands of the working world which requires skills and professional abilities in accordance with the needs of the organization. This causes the interest of people to continue their studies to the higher education level is also increasing. Even so, the fierce competition between higher education institutions to get potential student candidates in student enrollment, makes them have to survive, especially for Islamic Higher Education. Thus, it is important for higher education institutions to implement effective marketing strategies. There have been several studies that investigated the factors that influence students' decisions in choosing higher education institutions, but research focusing on investigating Islamic Higher Education institutions is very limited. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the determinants that influence student's decision in choosing non-religious programs at Islamic Higher Education. This study conducted an online survey on 158 respondentwho are studying non-religious programs in three Islamic Higher Education institutions in Indonesia, namely Universitas Islam Indonesia, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, and Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga. Data was analyzed using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Finally, the implications based on the empirical results of this study are provided as references for marketing practitioners of Islamic Higher Education in Indonesia to develop and design effective marketing strategies.