What Factors Influence Students’ Choice of Study Abroad Agencies?

Abstract

Due to the limited higher education resources in China, more and more people no longer regard higher education as their only goal. The demand for study abroad is increasing year by year, which promotes the rapid development of study abroad agency business. Based on this phenomenon, our research question is: What factors influence students’ choice of study abroad agency? Targeted improvement and promotion will influence the choice of students who want to study abroad for study abroad agencies. We assume that economic levels, GPAs and IELTS scores, writing abilities, preference for the agencies, degree of familiarity with the application process, friends’ and parents’ opinions will affect the choice of students in year 2 and year 3 who want to study abroad in China. We used correlation and linear regression analysis as our research methods to analyze the question. For the results, we found that IELTS/TOEFL score, writing ability, students’ preference of agency, and the degree of familiarity with the application process are correlated to their decision on choosing the agency.