ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes the conceptual framework, which is developed from the theories guiding the study. Students moving cross border to pursue higher education can be construed as an important component of human migration with long history. Thus, the theories of international migration are introduced. Cross-border student mobility for education is often interpreted as an investment in human capital. Another mainstream of research has placed more emphasis on the sociological underpinning of such mobility. Then, the two different perspectives of analysis including the push-pull model and process approach of decision-making are explained. Laura Perna (2006)'s proposed integrated model of college choice has pertinently attempted to explain student's college choice by incorporating constructs from both human capital and sociological approaches. This study builds on a push-pull model and Perna's approach to investigate the students' choice of an unidirectional flow of Hong Kong students to the mainland universities.
