Factors influencing students’ choice to enter private education institute undergraduate full-time programmes in Singapore

This study sought to discover key underlying factors influencing students’ choice to enrol with Private Education Institutes (PEI) in Singapore to develop their Higher Education (HE) needs. Despite the vast literature on factors influencing students’ choice to pursue HE, many do not explicitly examine PEIs, and there are few contemporary studies in Singapore. This study highlights varying definitions and perceptions of private HE worldwide, suggesting that country-specific factors influence students’ choices. It explores key factors influencing students’ choice for HE at Singapore PEIs.This qualitative study was guided by an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) perspective that took an insider’s view of participants’ lived experiences. In-depth interviews were used to gain unique insights from nine former Singapore full-time PEI undergraduate students, discovering key factors influencing their enrolment.Data analysis revealed that parental expectation, support, and accessibility appeared to be pivotal influences that rested on an entrenched cultural fabric of meritocracy and status, with strong social conventions and norms guiding and driving behaviour. The study developed several themes that strongly influenced participants’ decision to enrol in a PEI in Singapore; parents, friends, employability, cost, and availability of alternatives were vital factors influencing participants. The discovery of cultural conventions and norms as underlying influence factors appears to be a unique contribution to knowledge.This study further contributes a conceptual framework that highlights how the influencing factors relate to and affect each other, resulting in participants’ decision to enrol in a Singapore PEI. It is anticipated that the findings allow a better appreciation of factors that may assist PEIs to improve in different aspects of their business. It provides a conceptual framework that hopes to guide PEIs in developing policies that may help improve the sector