The purpose of this paper is to show what are the applicants' institution selection
criteria in higher education in Hungary and what changes this will imply in higher
education management and communication. These questions were investigated based on
a review of the most relevant literature and the analysis of 1396 Hungarian higher
education University of Pecs applicants in two consecutive years. Exploratory and
confirmative factor analyses were used to identify the relative order of the application
influencing factors: as a result, the first most important is the vivacity, followed
by career and costs, fourth is image and the last one is the low commitment. In this
context, the paper has shown that the identification of the application strategies
requires renewed management and communication techniques. The results help the institutions
to determine the possible actions to be implemented to attract more students and improve
the level of offered services. The permanent system change of the Hungarian higher
education as a phenomenon versus the applicants' institution selection criteria gives
the uniqueness of the Hungarian situation, and this study provides information for
researchers in higher education in this field additionally.
