Abstract:
The objectives of this research were to study the demand and factors affecting demand for the international undergraduate programs; the response of educational institutions to demand for the international undergraduate programs; and direction of the international undergraduate programs in Thailand. The logit model was used for studying factors affecting demand for the international undergraduate programs, while the response of educational institutions to demand for the international undergraduate programs and direction of development of the international undergraduate programs were based on descriptive statistics and content analysis. Data used in this study were obtained from (1) questionnaires completed by 371 Thai students and 357 foreign students in the international undergraduate programs in Thailand, and 359 Thai students and 362 foreign students who had chosen to study in the native language undergraduate programs in Thailand or in their home countries; (2) interviewing 8 executive administrators of international undergraduate programs, and (3) interviewing 15 experts in international education programs and national education development policies. The findings indicated that 83.8% of the international undergraduate program students in Business Administration, Computer Science and Information Technology, Hotel and Tourism in Thailand are Thai, whereas only 16.2% of them are foreign students. Most of students were in the field of Business Administration (88.4%), followed by Computer Science and Information Technology (5.9%) and Hotel and Tourism (5.7%), respectively. Factors affecting demand for of international undergraduate programs are reputation, quality and standard of educational institution, expected income, family support, experience from international program job opportunity, educational expense, and family income, respectively. Most of universities responded to the demand for studying these 3 fields by emphasizing on improvement in teaching, educational services, quality and standard of the international program. However, the high operating costs and the limited number of scholarships hindered the expansion of international undergraduate programs. Thus, the number of foreign academic staff and students gradually increased. For the development of the international undergraduate program in Thailand to compete with other countries, the educational institutions have to improve educational quality and standard, to supply able graduates in accordance with the manpower requirement and labor market, to promote cultural exchange and experience activities, and to charge the tuition and fees at the appropriate rate.