| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立中正大學 === 國際經濟所 === 98 === The twenty-first century is the century of knowledge economy. Knowledge deposit and innovative ability has become important drivers of the economy. Education is an important means of cultivating such knowledge deposit and innovative ability. Higher education, in particular, has become critical to the development and competitiveness of any country. In recent years, Taiwanese higher education has successfully transformed into popular education. It has a bifurcated system--general education and professional education--which induces more opportunities to maintain a balance between theory and practice. However, as higher education sector expands, it is threatened by the upcoming demographic change, as fertility rate is expected to drop significantly. Most universities faced the conundrum of a future decrease in undergraduate student population. Due to the unequal distribution of resources between public and private institutions, and social disappointment toward the quality of undergraduates, professional institutions and private institutions are unable to make use of the full potential of existing social resources. This thesis looks into the decision making process of undergraduate freshmen from the 92nd and 94th academic years (2003, 2005), in order to understand the logic and significance of their choices. This thesis aims to provide decision makers in government and in education institutions a strategic standpoint wherefrom to organize advantageous yet balanced developments between general and professional institutions.
Using multinomial logit model analysis, results show that students selecting public or general institutions, or those who were normally distributed according to college entrance exam results, consider the “reputation of institutions” as their primary factor of concern. In addition, compared to students enrolling in public institutions, students enrolling in private institutions consider “campus environment, facilities, utilities” as primary factor of concern, while those enrolling in professional institutions consider “finances” as primary factor of concern. Compared to students enrolling in public institutions of general education, students enrolling in private institutions of general education consider “placement” as primary factor of concern. Compared to students enrolling in public professional institutions, students enrolling in private professional institutions consider “campus environment, facilities, utilities” as primary factor of concern. Compared with students who were normally distributed according to college entrance exam results, students who applied or enrolled into higher education institutions through other means consider “faculty” as primary factor of concern. Moreover, ordered probit model analysis results show that there is an inverse correlation between students’ family condition and “finance” as a factor of concern. The higher the family income, parents’ education level, and prestige of parents’ profession, the less likely students would consider “finance” as a primary factor of concern.
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