The Importance of Education - Essay Example

?Introduction The importance of education can not be over emphasized keeping in view the fast pace of this ever changing world which has turned this world around us into a global village. University education is an integral and a very crucial segment of a student’s academic life. University education not only provides an individual a career path and an exposure of life but its teachings and experience go far beyond this primary attributes (Cook, 2001). Selection of a university once a student graduate from high school is nevertheless a difficult decision, it requires careful evaluation of the university on number of features which include a vast array of academic standing and reputation, the courses and fields it has to offer, extra curricular activities and social status of that university etc. The decision of the student while selecting a university is not entirely based on its academic standing in general, but in fact it includes how well established that university is in a particular field in which that student is trying to pursue his or her career. The student usually investigates this aspect painstakingly before making a final decision. This might include evaluating university’s ranking in that particular field or the magnitude of research being done by that school etc (McCarthy, 2002). Review of the Literature Mostly students from their very early student life choose a field of interest and from there the process of university selection starts and when it is about time they have sorted out which university is best for them but still there are students who have a pool of choices around them and it is really hard for them to pick just one. So they start evaluating among the pool of universities on the basis of their infra structure, popularity, fee structure, scholarship facilities, location and advertisement (Clark, 1988). First and the foremost thing that a student checks is the reputation of a university if a university is known for the best quality management and excellence in the education system it will be high on the evaluation scale of that student. Secondly the higher the reputation the higher will be the admission requirements of that university such as good academic record, high fee structure, strict policies etc. and not every student can fulfill those requirements (Petley, 2002). So second thing to look for is the fee structure and the scholarship facilities, not every student can pay high fees that mostly good universities ask for so they apply for scholarships which are mostly need based or on high academic records of the students. So a mediocre student who is not financially stable and does not have a sound academic record can not avail the facility of studying at high reputed universities (Runciman, 2009). Then what is left is the infrastructure of a university if that is well formed and is feasible for a student to adapt. So a university should then be evaluated on the basis of the facilities it is providing to the students such as transport, building and communication system among the management and the students. Location of a university also matters a lot while deciding because mostly students prefer the universities in their home town or nearby location to avoid the cultural shock, cost of living, daily life facilities such as nearby shopping stores, bank and the accommodation issues which can be a great nuisance for students (McChesney, 1999). Some students also opt for the universities abroad again they have to go through all the above process of evaluation for selection one of the thousands of universities (Kaplan, 2003). Advertisements of these universities play a vital role as they create awareness among the students in other countries of their existence and the facilities they provide so that students do not have much problem researching about these universities, their repute, fee structure, infra structure and scholarship facilities (Johnson, 1978). After evaluating all the factors mentioned above a student may choose the university that is highest on the feasibility scale and will surely opt for it. So it’s not just one factor that plays role in the selection process it depends on the students and their chances of studying at a particular university. Some students also fall into the trap of social conformity and select the university which their friends and family recommend (Graydon, 2003). Apart from the ranking aspect, students focus on the social aspect of the university which includes its popularity, extra curricular activities and the number of their friends going to that university (Kaplan, 2001). Results and Analysis This section with deal with the results of data collected through the questionnaires. In total, 30 people took part in this survey. 17 of them were males and 13 of them were females. Out of these 30 people, 24 had the nationality of United Kingdom while the other six were Asians, immigrants or students on study visa. Division of Participants on the basis of Gender Total Participants Males Females 30 17 13 In reply to the question number 1, majority of students said that they believe that while choosing a university for Master’s programme, advertisements play a vital role. The trend was strong in favor of this statement that 25 out of 30 students said yes in reply to this question. Advertising has a huge impact on decision making by the people not only in selecting a university but in other tasks in life as well. Buying behavior of the customers is very strongly changed by the impact of advertising efforts of the sellers. In response to the question that what factors affect their decision before choosing a university, the following answers were recorded: Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree Courses -- -- -- 26 4 Tuition Fee -- -- 2 24 2 Location -- 5 10 15 -- Accommodation -- -- 2 28 -- Scholarship -- -- 10 10 10 Ranking -- 5 5 10 10 Employability -- -- 2 5 23 As the above mentioned results clearly show, students are concerned very seriously about the courses they are offered in Masters. They are also very much concerned about the tuition fee. Tuition fee for many happens to be the deciding factor in favor of or against any institute. Availability of accommodation and the employability of an institute remain to be the most important factors which help students in decision making. All of the students study hard to reach Master’s programme level and they definitely want to get a surety about future employment and that is why this information plays a vital role in decision making. In reply to the third question that if the students know that Nottingham Trent University (NTU) offers scholarships or not, the respondents have said that majority of them know about the scholarship offered by NTU before entering the university. 23 out of 30 claimed that they knew about the scholarship offering by NTU. 7 participants said they did not know about it. When the 30 participants were asked about the ranking of universities, a clear majority of them agreed that they would like to go to better ranked universities. The actual important factor in this case is that a high ranked university usually offers better employability options. This is what helps the students in making up their minds while selecting universities for Master’s programme. Next, the participants were asked about their opinion regarding the impact of good infrastructure over selecting a university. Unanimously, all participants said yes. They believe that if a place where you want to study has better infrastructure, you do not need to worry about the basics and can focus on your studies only. For this reason, they believe strongly in universities having better infra structure are better options for study. In the next question the students were asked about their choice of advertisement. The answers were as follows: Preferred Advertising material Printed Word of Mouth Websites Others 15 5 8 2 Half of the participants said that they prefer printed material like brochures for advertising. They said that this kind of material has better impact on their decision making. 5 of the respondents said that they prefer word of mouth publicity over brochures. If someone has studied from a university and he or she recommends it that is the best and most trustworthy advertising. As the world is moving towards a cyber age at a very fast pace, 8 of the respondents said they trust website advertising the most. When asked about how the participants came to know about NTU, half of them said that they came to know about NTU through website advertising. 10 out of 30 have heard about NTU through academic fairs while 5 heard about NTU through word of mouth (family, friends). The participants were then asked about the access of information about NTU. 20 out of 30 said that finding information about NTU is easy and it is not a very difficult task to do. 5 of the participants were neutral in their response to this question while 5 strongly agree that it is easy to find information about NTU. An extension of previous question was that where did the participant searched for information about NTU. A clear majority, 28 out of 30 said that they searched about NTU through internet. Only 2 out of 30 said that they gathered the information through word of mouth as someone from their relatives has already studied at NTU. When asked about the frequency of their visit to the Facebook official page of NTU, 25 out of 30 participants said that they do not visit Facebook page of NTU very frequently. Some of them said that they visit it 1-3 times per week. 5 people said that they visit 1-3 times weekly while all others said they visit fewer times or never visit at all. The next question pertains to availability of adequate information on NTU website and brochure. 27 of the participants said that they believe that the information provided on the brochure and especially the website was very good. It was good enough to help them decide in favor of joining NTU. While making a decision regarding joining your Master’s programme, it is important that you have access to vital information. This helps in making well informed decision. NTU gets a lot of attention due to this fact. Students get all the information they need prior to selecting the university at NTU website and in the brochures and thus they decide in favor of NTU. When the participants were asked about the quality of marketing material of NTU, they responded in the following manner: NTU’s marketing material is effective Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree -- 2 2 22 4 As the table shows, 22 out of the 30 participants believed that NTU’s marketing material is very effective. Another 4 believe very strongly that this material is effective. However, 2 of the participants believed that NTU’s marketing material is not very effective. The last 2 have a neutral response to this question. In response to the last question, that if the respondents will recommend the NTU to others, a clear majority replied with a yes. 28 out of 30 participants said that they would recommend NTU positively to others. Another 2 said that they will not recommend NTU to others. A lot of times students select a college based completely on the fact that their entire group of friends from high school is going there or based on the number of parties it holds and how socially active that university is, which is not at all a rational approach. Reflections on the collection and utilization of Data Data was collected from 30 NTU students and alumni. Data was collected through a questionnaire. This research was based totally on the researcher’s primary research. Data collected is complied in a way to convert the qualitative aspects of research into a quantifiable result. It was an interesting process to collect data for a primary research. There were many points highlighted by the participants which cleared the picture in detail for the researcher. For instance, for many students though fee structure might appear as an obstacle initially but in most of the cases if they are determined then they eventually find a way out to cover their tuition expenses, for example they can either get a scholarship, apply for a loan or borrow from some external sources etc. It has been observed that although fee structures do present problems for the parents and students but it can not be the sole reason for not attending a particular university. This was an issue explained to the researcher during data collection. Lastly, students pay considerable attention to the status of university in society and how it is generally perceived by the public. Since students at this young age are usually very concerned about how people perceive them, so they attach the same significance of perception to the university they choose. While the researcher collected information from the participants, the overall experience was very informative and satisfying. People who participated in the survey were very cooperative and they helped in completion of this research with enthusiasm. Conclusion: In this report, a survey was conducted in which 30 participants took part. These people were asked a set of questions each to which they replied and the data was tabulated and analyzed in this report. The report discusses the response of these 30 participants towards various questions related to advertising and marketing efforts of NTU and the factors that play important role for students who want to get admitted to universities for Master’s programmes. The report mentions it clearly that marketing efforts of the universities have a clear impact over decision making by the students in favor of or against any university. Universities also compete with each other and their success lies in the fact that important and relevant information must reach the interested students without much problem. From the report it is clear that information availability regarding the course a university offer is one of the most important factors that students pay attention to. Also, the students who want to join a university of Master’s programme usually prefer those which offer clear fee structure. A very important factor that plays an important role in this regard is the employability of a university. As a matter of fact the world economy is going through a bad patch these days. Unemployment is increasing and the entrepreneurship is not safe due to the economic disturbance felt by weakening US and UK economies. A very important factor for the students to decide in favor of a university is thus the ability of that university to act as a good launching pad for the students to get good jobs in the market. Talking specifically about NTU, it is clear that website marketing is most successful tool for NTU. Also, as most of the people re not visiting Facebook official page of NTU, it shows that NTU still has potential and can do a lot better by improving its efforts in social media marketing. Majority of the participants believe that marketing material offered by NTU is of very good quality and is informative. They appreciated NTU brochure and website for providing all requited information about courses which acted as a decision making factor for them. Most of them are satisfied with NTU and would recommend it to others as well. References: Clark, E. 1988. The Want Makers. Viking. Cook, G. 2001. The Discourse of Advertising. London: Routledge,  Graydon, S. 2003. Made You Look - How Advertising Works and Why You Should Know. Toronto: Annick Press,  Johnson, J. D. 1978. Advertising Today. Chicago: Science Research Associates.  Kaplan, B. 2001. How to go to college almost for free. Collins Reference. Kaplan, B. 2003. 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