Examining Factors Influencing Fourth Grade High School Student's Decision to Continue Their Education in University

he purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing fourth-grade high school student's decision-making to continue their education in university. Survey method was used and the data was collected through using a researcher-made questionnaire. The population of the study consisted of all (N= 6175) male and female students in fourth grade public high schools in Kermanshah. These students were majoring in Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Humanities during the academic year of 1389-90. Five hundred forty participants were selected randomly by means of multi-stage cluster sampling. The data was analyzed through mean rank and Freidman test. The results of analysis were as follows: 1) among personal-cognitive factors, enthusiasm to continue education, high educational self-concept, and knowledge-gaining, 2) among familial factors, the parent's expectation of their children to enter university in order to bring honor for the family, high value of studying for the family members and the parent's tendency for their children entering university, 3) among social-cultural factors, high social status, enhancing social interactions, the significance of being a university student among relatives and friends, 4) among the economic factors, finding a good job, having higher income, and student's beliefs considering academic education as a sort of investment and 5) among scholastic factors, field of study, teacher's persuasion, and competition with classmates were the major influential factors in student's decisions to continue their education in university.