The growth of Chinese students and the diversity of educational programs offered by educational Institution of Higher Education in Thailand

Abstract

The objectives of this study are to explore the motivation of Chinese students on choosing Thailand’s international program as an educated degree destination, to learn guidelines of international program management, and to do a comparative study on the number of student admission in each program under the ISCED 2013 framework. There are found that the competition of mainland china’s student entering local university increases exponentially. The number of seat availability becomes more limited. Furthermore, with a “Go West Policy”, some families begin to let their children going aboard. This is called a push factor. Pull factors are a geographical factor, labor market, and curriculum adaption of the institution. By evidence and ISCED 2013, it is also found that most of Chinese student register in Business Administration and Law program, while specific educational programs come as a second rank. Undergraduate and graduate programs in private universities are the most popular choices for Chinese students, while the Ph.D. program in Panyapiwat Institute of Management and autonomous university are chosen as a priority. Management and STEM program are the top of lists.