What factors will influence high school pupils in Lebanon when choosing a university?

This thesis examined which choice factors effect Lebanese high school pupils when selecting a university. The study concentrated on marketing research, to explain how high school students selected a higher education institute in Northern Lebanon. The literature review established that various components hold an influential role during a student decision-making process, and these components differed in studies worldwide. The theoretical framework described the phases of this process and how pupils will decide upon choosing a university; this study explores the most likely influences of this process in a case study context. A total of 591 first year university students participated in this study from across 17 universities in the northern part of Lebanon. This methodology employed was descriptive and utilised a triangular approach. The study used few qualitative interviews to validate questions but was predominantly quantitative survey based. The findings confirmed three significant elements of influence: the first Element (Marketing & Social Media influence) was found have a 60% possibility to influence new students, the second Element (University characteristics & Aspirations) was found have a 67% possibility to influence new students, and the third Element (Students financial situation) was found to have a 62% possibility of negatively influencing new students. Each element comprised factors of influence that have since been proven to be key. Throughout this research, a stage-by-stage process was undertaken to identify factors originally regarded as significant.