Investigating the factors that influence the university preference: a countrywide field research in turkey

The purpose of the study is to determine the factors that influence students' university preference. In addition, it is aimed to investigate whether the factors that affect the preferences differ according to demographic variables. The sample of the study comprises of 1112 students who are at the level of preparation to the university entrance exam. The data collected from the questionnaires were analyzed via the frequency analysis, t test and the one way variance analysis. As a result of the factor analysis, respectability, opportunities, campus and sociability were found to be the four main factors that affect students' preference. According to the study results, it was concluded that the female students rather consider the respectability, the opportunities and the campus features of the universities. It was also revealed that those who study numeric-related departments at high-school give more importance the opportunity to access the necessary information at universities. In addition, it was found out that students to prefer the state universities take into account the facilities provided by the institutions