Motivations of Chinese students for enrolling in Malaysian higher education: An expert-ranked Delphi study

Malaysia has become a prominent destination for Chinese outbound student mobility, and understanding the motivations underlying these enrolment decisions has become increasingly important for Malaysian higher education institutions and policymakers. Although prior studies have examined Chinese students' motivations primarily through student self-reports, limited research has systematically prioritized these motivations from the perspective of academics who work closely with Chinese students in Malaysian universities. This study employed a modified two-round Delphi design to identify and rank academics' expert-informed perceptions of the motivations influencing Chinese students' enrollment in Malaysian higher education institutions. A total of 40 academics from Malaysian higher education institutions were invited to participate, of whom 24 experts with substantial experience teaching, supervising, or supporting Chinese students completed both Delphi rounds. In Round 1, experts generated and refined motivational themes through iterative thematic synthesis. In Round 2, the same experts ranked the resulting dimensions to establish a prioritized hierarchy, and Kendall's coefficient of concordance was calculated to assess interrater agreement. Eight motivational dimensions were identified and ranked. Educational quality and institutional reputation were ranked highest by experts, followed by affordability and financial considerations. Cultural and social considerations, along with the language and communication environment, ranked next, while career development and academic pathways were ranked moderately. Administrative and policy-related factors, geographic and environmental attractiveness, and logistical and infrastructure support were ranked comparatively lower and functioned primarily as enabling conditions rather than primary drivers. The analysis demonstrated moderate but statistically significant inter-expert agreement (Kendall's W = 0.414, p < .001), indicating convergence in experts' relative prioritization of the identified motivational dimensions. The findings extend push-pull explanations by suggesting that experts perceived Chinese students' motivations as a layered, sequential decision-making structure in which institutional credibility and financial value are evaluated before acculturative ease and longer-term mobility considerations. Implications are discussed for evidence-based quality disclosure, value-indexed communication, and differentiated internationalization strategies targeting the Chinese education market.