Institutional Social Media and Study Program Choice at State Islamic Higher Education Institutions: An Explanatory Cross-Regional Survey in the Multicultural Regions of Java, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21093/di.v26i1.14288Keywords:
institutional social media, study program choice, State Islamic Higher Education (PTKIN), explanatory survey, multicultural regions, college choiceAbstract
Institutional social media has become a primary channel through which State Islamic Higher Education Institutions (PTKIN) reach prospective students from culturally diverse regions, yet evidence on whether it shapes study program choice remains inconsistent and has rarely been examined from an educational and multicultural perspective. Using an explanatory survey across three multicultural regions and drawing on Hossler and Gallagher's college choice model, Perna's layered contextual model, signaling theory, the Technology Acceptance Model, and multicultural education perspectives, this study addresses three questions: (1) how first-year students from Java, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi perceive PTKIN institutional social media and their study program decisions; (2) whether, and how strongly, institutional social media affects these decisions; and (3) whether the effect remains robust after data-quality screening, common-method-bias checks, and heteroskedasticity correction. The survey was conducted at three PTKIN with Unggul (excellent) accreditation that represent the Javanese, Banjar, and Bugis-Makassar cultural regions: UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, UIN Antasari Banjarmasin, and UIN Alauddin Makassar (population = 12,816). Of 1,088 questionnaires collected, 852 (326 from Yogyakarta, 200 from Banjarmasin, and 326 from Makassar) were retained after systematic screening for incomplete responses, straight-lining, and multivariate outliers. The 50-item five-point Likert instrument was valid (r = 0.588–0.778) and reliable (Cronbach's α = 0.956 and 0.957). Both variables were in the high category (item means = 3.72 and 3.92). Institutional social media had a positive and significant effect on study program choice (Y = 24.569 + 0.865X; t = 40.938; p < 0.001), explaining 66.3% of its variance (f² = 1.97). The effect was robust (HC3 robust t = 42.483; 95% bootstrap CI = 0.825–0.904; Harman's first factor = 45.04%). The findings position institutional social media as an educational guidance and quality-signalling channel that narrows information gaps for students from diverse cultural regions and serves as a digital entry point to the multicultural campus climate of PTKIN. PTKIN should therefore design culturally responsive, evidence-based, and interactive social media content aligned with the admission calendar.
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