The Factors Affecting a Decision to Continue a Study at the Champasack University

Abstract

     The research aimed to 1) study the factors which affected the first-year students’ decision to continue a study at the Champasack University, Lao People’ Democratic Republic, and to investigate the problems and recommendations concerning the learning process of the students. Population in the study was 224 first-year students of the Champasack University in the academic year 2015. The research instrument was the questionnaire made by the researchers. The questionnaire consisted of two parts: part one was concerned with the general information of the students and part two dealt with six factors which affected the students’ decision: work prospect, pride, motivation, personnel, site or location and teaching and learning. The present work was a survey research and conducted from May to June, 2015. Statistics used were percentage, means and standard deviation.

     The research finding were as follows.
     1. The six factors as found in the study had a moderate impact on students’ decision to study at the Champasack University. As for individual aspects, it was found that the first three factors which most affected the students’ decision to study at the Champasack University in the academic year 2015 were arranged in a descending order: personnel, pride and work. The three factors which least affected the students’ decision were arranged from an ascending order: motivation, teaching and learning, location and site.
     2. The recommendations given by the students were as follows: the sports complex should be created, expensive parking fees should be addressed, more restrooms should be provided, scholarships should be conferred to the students with good performance, individual faculties should be encouraged to make products, there should be a special policy on the students’ fees, the teacher’s teaching quality should be improved, and more attention should be given to students, a learner-centered approach should be used and more hours should be added to the major subjects.