Attraction factors of international graduate students to research universities in Malaysia

International student needs and expectations are becoming increasingly sophisticated and demanding. Therefore higher education system in Malaysia has been transformed coherent with the country s development and international market. Higher education strategic plan also aims to attract more international graduate students, particularly at research universities including the UKM. Thereby, the objective of the study to identify the factors attract international students choose the University. A total of 369 international graduate students at UKM provide feedback via the survey form. T test and Kruskal-Wallis test is used to analyze the pull factors. The study found that there is no significant difference in pull factors between PhD and masters students. However, there were significant differences for the scholarship/grants opportunities, tution fees and courses being recognized by students’ continent of origin.