FACTORS AFFECTING DECISION TO STUDY IN HIGHER EDUCATION OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AT MUAKLEKWITTAYA SCHOOL, MUAK LEK DISTRICT, SARABURI PROVINCE

This study aims to examine factors that affect the decision to study in higher education of high school students and to compare these factors with different demographic  profiles. The sample population for this research consists of 236 high school students studying at Muak Lek Wittaya School. The instrumentation used in this research was a 5-level rating scale questionnaire. Statistics used in data analysis were frequency, percentage, mean,  standard deviation, Independent t-test, and One-way ANOVA. The results showed that 66.7% of respondents were female, 75.4% of respondents were 17 years old and above, and 58.5 of respondents were studying in the final year of high school. The factor that posed the highest level of affecting decisions toward higher education was expectation (¯X = 3.90). The lowest affecting factor was building. For the demographic profile  comparison, students who had the difference in gender did not have different influenced factors. Students who had the difference in age had different influenced factor level in expectation. Students who had the difference in study level had different influenced factor in relevant people. Students who had the difference in major had different influenced factor level in building. However, the Scheffé’s method of paired comparison revealed no statistically significant difference at .05 level