The direct effects of pre-entry factors on Saudi master students' outcomes in Australia

Australia is the fourth most popular destination for Saudi Students. The success of those students is an important issue for them, the Saudi Government, and of Australian universities. Pre-entry factors influence students' effectiveness through their influence on learning process and achievement. The study concentrated on Saudi Master Students and aims to investigate to what extent do pre-entry factors directly influence Saudi international Master's students' outcomes as interpreted by Degree Grade Point Average (GPA), student's completion period, and overall satisfaction? Through a review of the literature, the main pre-entry factors that were likely to influence the success of international graduate Master students were deduced; they are: gender, age, marital status, IELTS score, length of time studying English in Australia, Bachelor's GPA. A questionnaire was administered to gain data about respondents' backgrounds (factors obtaining prior to educational processes, called pre-entry factors); and educational outcomes factors (Master's GPA, extension of completion the degree and satisfaction of Master course). 502 were collected. A Multiple Regression Analysis was used to investigate the predictive powers of pre-entry factors on process factors and educational outcomes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six students to provide more explanation. The study reveals that pre-entry factors explained a third of the variation in the Master's GPA and more than a quarter of the variation in extensions requested and in students' satisfaction in their research abilities. The IELTS score was the most important pre-entry factor, followed by the relevance of the Master's major to the Bachelor's major and the Bachelor's GPA.