How important is the tuition fee during the COVID-19 pandemic in a developing country? Evaluation of filipinos' preferences on public university attributes using conjoint analysis

Zachariah John A Belmonte; Yogi Tri Prasetyo; Ardvin Kester S Ong; Thanatorn Chuenyindee; Nattakit Yuduang; Poonyawat Kusonwattana; Reny Nadlifatin; Satria Fadil Persada; Thapanat Buaphiban

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11205

How important is the tuition fee during the COVID-19 pandemic in a developing country? Evaluation of filipinos' preferences on public university attributes using conjoint analysis

Heliyon. 2022 Nov;8(11):e11205. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11205. Epub 2022 Oct 21.

Authors

Zachariah John A Belmonte^{1

2

3}, Yogi Tri Prasetyo^{1

4

5}, Ardvin Kester S Ong¹, Thanatorn Chuenyindee⁶, Nattakit Yuduang^{1

2}, Poonyawat Kusonwattana^{1

2}, Reny Nadlifatin⁷, Satria Fadil Persada⁸, Thapanat Buaphiban⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, Mapúa University, 658 Muralla St., Intramuros, Manila 1002, Philippines.
² School of Graduate Studies, Mapúa University, 658 Muralla St., Intramuros, Manila 1002, Philippines.
³ Mechanical Engineering & Allied Department, Technological University of the Philippines, Western Bicutan Taguig 1630, Philippines.
⁴ International Program in Engineering for Bachelor, Yuan Ze University, 135 Yuan-Tung Road, Chung-Li 32003, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Yuan Ze University, 135 Yuan-Tung Road, Chung-Li, 32003, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Industrial Engineering and Aviation Management, Navaminda Kasatriyadhiraj Royal Air Force Academy, Bangkok, 10220, Thailand.
⁷ Department of Information Systems, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Kampus ITS Sukolilo, Surabaya 60111, Indonesia.
⁸ Entrepreneurship Department, BINUS Business School Undergraduate Program, Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta 11480, Indonesia.

Abstract

In a developing country like the Philippines, it is critical to understand the important factors which lead college students to their current colleges and universities, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study utilized the conjoint analysis approach with an orthogonal design for evaluating understudy's inclination in choosing a college with the various attributes such as the tuition fee, distance or location, employability, academic reputation, recommended by friends and peers, recommended by family or relatives, and the availability to transfer was assessed. A total of 518 Filipino students studying at public and state universities participated in answering the 16 combined attributions about university preference using purposive sampling approach. Based on the utilities estimate, the most important attribute was the tuition fee of the preferred university with an importance value of about 32.839%, followed by the employability rate of the university with about 6% gap difference. The mid-concerned attributes were the distance/location with an estimated of 11.139%, recommendation of friends or peers with approximately 11.689% tying together, and the academic reputation with an estimated of 10.638%. The two least important attributes were identified to be the availability to transfer, having with only about 2.713%, and the recommendation of parents with only 2% difference at approximately 4.453%. The outcomes of this study can aid college chairmen and enrolment specialists tweak their advertising procedures by giving significant data to the chief gatherings engaged with settling college decision choices.

Keywords: COVID-19; College students; Conjoint analysis; Tuition fee; University preference.