The purpose of the thesis was to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of international degree programmes’ marketing and to make suggestions how to improve it. There are three English-taught degree programmes at Oulu University of Applied Sciences (OUAS): Degree Programme in Information Technology (DIT), Degree Programme in International Business (DIB) and Degree Programme in Business Information Technology (BIT). The reason for this thesis was that these programmes offered at OUAS are not able to attract enough Finnish and European students. About 70-80% of the applicants come from outside of Europe and in most cases they are not eligible or if they are they are not able to start their studies for various reasons.

The theoretical part of the thesis focused on marketing communications and the marketing of higher education institutions.

The research part of the thesis was done as a quantitative research in a survey form for the students participating at the entrance examinations held in Oulu 26 – 28.4.2012. The survey aimed to map the level of attendees’ exposure to the marketing activities of OUAS. Additionally the survey collected information about the influences which motivated the applicants to choose these degree programmes.

The conclusion of this thesis was that the main influences for applicants were motivation to study their respective fields, career opportunities after graduation, internationality of the programmes, location of the OUAS and exchange opportunities. Suggestions for OUAS were to emphasize these factors in their marketing and to focus on internet marketing as it was the most used channel among respondents. Also looking into market segmentation was suggested.