An Assessment of Students’ Needs in Tertiary Education in Malaysian Universities

Abstract:

Introduction: In the context of globalisation, declining interest in higher education and persistent dropout rates have raised concerns about the adequacy of student support and programme relevance in Malaysian universities. Methods: An ethical approval was obtained from the Institute of Postgraduate Studies and Research, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman. This study employed a quantitative survey design involving 30 tertiary students from Malaysian universities. A survey comprising Likert-scale items across four constructs: University, Society Influence, Family Influence, and Student was administered to the students. The survey items were reliable because the Cronbach’s alpha value was 0.936. Results: The majority of participants agreed with items across all four constructs, indicating that institutional reputation, societal expectations, family support, and individual factors jointly influence students’ decisions to pursue and persist in tertiary education. Conclusion: The findings suggest that multifaceted influences shape students’ higher education choices in Malaysia.

Keywords:

Choices, factors, higher education institutions, survey, tertiary students’ needs.

Citation: Chee Mei Hooi, Gee Khing Khor and Jeevamalar Kumarasamy (2025). An Assessment of Students’ Needs in Tertiary Education in Malaysian Universities. Horizon J. Hum. Soc. Sci. Res. 7 (2), 120–132. https://doi.org/10.37534/bp.jhssr.2025.v7.n2.id1327.p120