INTRODUCTION. The overall purpose of this study is to further understanding of how international students perceive the services offered by the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur and how satisfied they are with them. The study also identifies the factors that influence undergraduate international students in selecting University of Malaya as their study destination.
METHOD. The data were collected through questionnaires distributed personally to the undergraduate international student at the faculties in the University of Malaya and 190 undergraduate international students were involved in this study. The questionnaire was adapted from a combination of two existing measurement tools, which are Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory (SSI) and Mott Community College survey that measures the satisfaction with some modification and adjustment to suit the objectives of this study.
ANALYSIS. The standard SPSS (version 18.0) is used to analyse the data. This study used both descriptive and inferential statistics for data analysis. Descriptive analysis is used to analyze the respondents’ profile while inferential statistics are used to test the hypotheses formulated for the study. Pearson Correlation analysis is used to investigate the relationship between dependent variable and independent variables.
RESULTS. The findings show that in general the international students are satisfied with the quality of teaching and learning, administrative services, campus climate and campus facilities. It is noteworthy that campus climate is the most influential factor affecting the satisfaction of the international students. The results also indicate, that the main criterion for selection of the institution to pursue their study among undergraduate international students was the ranking of the university locally and internationally.
CONCLUSION. The conducive campus climate provides a sense of belonging that contributed to the satisfaction of international students. The University management should improve the facilities provided as it was the least satisfactory factor contributing to the satisfaction of the international students. The satisfaction of the international students is important as play an important role in determining a positive word-of-mouth (WOM) of the University. The image and prestige of University of Malaya as a high ranked university locally and internationally gave a positive impact in attracting and recruiting international students.
