Abstract

Yoo and Lee(1996) exploratorily extracted five factors (Intellect, Ambition, Vitality, Individualism, and Korean Tradition) from trait adjectives describing university image. The purpose of this study was to confirm the five factors, and develop a model for measuring the university image. For this purpose, first of all, exploratory models were established based on the result of Yoo and Lee(1996)`s study. Then a confirmatory factor analysis was performed by LISREL 8 to develop the measurement model for the university image. In the step of model development, 451 college students rated the image of 24 universities using 45 trait adjectives describing university image. The result of the confirmatory factor analysis indicated the measurement model consisted of the five factors was well fitted to the data, and the model consisted of 29 trait adjectives(6 trait adjectives from four factors and 5 trait adjectives from Korean Tradition factor) was the best model. Another confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to cross-validate the model using 448 college students. Result indicated the model was valid across different samples. Based on the five factor model of the university image, 24 universities were compared by cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling. Results indicated that 24 universities were categorized into 4 clusters. Cluster 1 included Kyungbuk, Pusan, Chungnam, Dongkuk, etc. which were rated below average in most of the five factors. Cluster 2 included Ewha, Seokang, Kyunghee, etc. which were rated high in the Vitality factor and below average in other four factors. Cluster 3 included Korea, Sungkyunkwan, Military Academy, Hanyang which were rated high in the Intellect and Korean Tradition factors. Cluster 4 included Seoul National, Pohang Tec, Yonsei which were rated high in the Intellect and Individualism factors. Lastly the implication and the limitation of this study were discussed. Also additional research tasks were suggested.