Examination of the Motivation for Further Education among Hungarian High School Students in Vojvodina

The study focuses on the higher education choices of Hungarian-speaking students studying at Serbian high schools in Vojvodina. Due to the disorganized nature of Hungarian-language higher education in Serbia, Hungarian students have little opportunity to study in their mother tongue at state universities and colleges. A questionnaire was distributed among 442 students at 11 high schools in Vojvodina to find out about their intention to study after high school, their reasons for and against higher education in Serbia, and the reasons influencing their choice of higher education institution. The results were analyzed with frequency tables and word clouds. Eighty percent of respondents said they planned to continue their studies after high school. Of those, 72% would like to study in one of the Hungarian higher education institutions, while 25% would like to study in Serbia. Our results showed that for Hungarian high school students in Vojvodina, language is the most important reason when choosing a higher education institution, in terms of both a lack of knowledge of Serbian language and a desire to conduct their studies in their mother tongue. Other influencing reasons were favorable academic programs, future career opportunities, and geographic proximity.