The importance of higher education cannot be overstated. Although basic education in Thailand only ranges from primary to secondary school (M.6), the need for a highly qualified workforce that have obtained their bachelor’s degree and/or post-graduate degree. With the coming of aging society in Thailand, the number of student enrollment has consistently dropped throughout the last years. We can use student enrollment in Maejo University as an example. The number of students admitted per year has consistently dropped. Furthermore, the number of students registered year by year has consistently dropped for the past three years. Consequentially, it is necessary to not only develop strategies that will increase student enrollment, but also to develop strategies that will help universities retain its students, while not reducing the quality of education.
Thailand offers a choice of universities for students to undergoe their higher education. There are over a hundred private and public universities in Thailand. The problem; is that student admissions are dwindling. In 2016, only 57.14% of the students graduating from highschool enrolled in universities in Thailand that same academic year (Arnon, 2016). Furthermore, a rising problem in different universities in Thailand is that number of students resigning/dropping out of class is rising. These issues are considerable points of concern because they affect the universities capacity to cover its expenditure.
Financial stability and family income are among the number of factors that affect university admission (Kallio, 1995) and student retention (Soares et al., 2015). For such reasons, the government pushed for financial support programs for students including student loan projects, 15 year study free, and others. Despite these government policies, the number of students resigning from universities and not continuing higher education is continually increasing. Consequentially, there are factors other than financial stability and family income that affect students’ decision to register or resign from university (Murray, 2014).
The factors affecting students’ decision to enroll and stay in a particular university may differ depending on the university. Furthermore, the factors affecting student’s choice for university may be different depending on the faculty/department they are studying. This is specially the case with Maejo University. MJU is traditionally oriented towards agricultural production, and has until 1996 opened its door to majors not related to agriculture. This is important because MJU’s reputation might attract students that are really motivated to start and finish their degree in agricultural related faculties in comparison to student enrolling in other programmes (Fizer, 2013; Aguado, 2015). Furthermore, MJU has a unique set of regulations and culture that make it different from other universities. MJU. The factors that affect students’ decisions to remain in MJU.
Like many universities in Thailand, MJU is currently suffering from a fall in student admissions. As seen in Table 1, the total number of students admitted to MJU and its different chapters has fallen considerably from 5386 students in 2558 to 3941 students in 2561. This is a 26.83% drop in student admissions, which is alarming to say the least. As seen in Table 1, these patterns are also prevalent, with a few exceptions, in faculties inside MJU. On another note, the number of students resigning is a considerable issue for MJU. For the last three years, the number of students enrolling into the second semester of the academic year has been from 21% to 18% lower than the students registered in the first semester during the same academic year (Table 2). For such reason it is important to understand the factors that affect student admission to MJU. This information can help in making the necessary modifications to MJU’s regulations and policies that would ensure that students apply to MJU, and remain until graduating from the university. In order to study this issue, the aim of this study is to investigate the factors that affect student enrollment and student retention in MJU.