Mohd Fikri Ishak, Aeshah Mohd Ali, Nur Ilyana Ismarau Tajuddin, Mohd Farid Shamsudin
Purpose of Study: This study exclusively focused on private HEIs due to the growing trend of Malaysian students opting for private HEI to further their study. The purpose of this research is to determine the direct relationship between ranking of institution and students’ decision-making to enrol at private HEIs; financial aid and students’ decision-making to enrol at private HEIs; and to determine the indirect relationship where financial aid moderates the relationship between ranking of institution and the students’ decision-making to enrol at private HEI.
Methodology: The underpinning theory applied in this study was Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) applied for ranking of institution. Five hundred (500) questionnaires distributed at selected private HEI around Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. The unit of analysis for this study was the first-year undergraduate students (in their first academic semester) at 23 selected private HEIs across Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. Data were analyzed using variance-based structural equation modelling (VB-SEM) technique.
Results: The analysis outcome of the focal study had expounded a significant direct relationship significant between financial aid and ranking of institutions towards decision making to enrol at private HEIs. In addition, result on moderation assessment had explicated financial aid did not moderate the relationship path between ranking of institution and decision making. Therefore, overall results on structural model assessment concludes that hypotheses h1 and hypotheses h1a were accepted. Whereas, on the other hand hypothesis h1b was rejected.
Implications: The result of the path coefficient reveals that raking institution (β=3.281, p<0.5) has significant effects over decision making; and financial aid (β=2.827, p<0.5) has significant effects over decision making. However, moderator financial aid has not significant effect between Ranking of institution and students’ decision-making (β=0.321, p>0.5).