Empirical Research on Factors Influencing Students’ Decision to Study Abroad using Cart Analysis

The main objective of this paper is to identify the main factors that determine students to continue their studies abroad or in their home country. A quantitative research is conducted through a questionnaire applied on a representative sample of students from The Bucharest University of Economic Studies. Data analysis is performed using SPSS and CART. The results indicate that the primary reasons students opt to continue their studies abroad is to achieve better quality education and social status. Furthermore, the parents' level of education influences the students to continue their studies in the home country. The conclusions of the study suggest that students whose parents have a high level of education are more confident about their chances of success in their home country and consider that they can benefit from a quality education even without leaving abroad. Moreover, students whose parents have less than a high school diploma wish to overcome their condition and to obtain a significant social prestige due to the studies undertaken abroad.