MOTIVATION TO PURSUE HIGHER EDUCATION OF PART-TIME STUDENTS

The higher education system is closely linked to the business world and plays a key role in the creation of competent experts that will be able to respond to the needs and challenges of the modern economy. Since today's economy is based on knowledge, the creation of the so called "knowledge worker" is an urgent need of every society. Such a worker is the basis of competitive ability of the national but also of the global economy. The aim of the higher education system is to create such an expert. In higher education there are two categories of students: full-time and part-time students. Since these two categories differ from each other they must be separately analyzed. The aim of this study is to determine and rank the motivating factors that encourage Croatian part-time students to continue their education in the higher education system, and compare them with the results of existing studies. The results of this study may be important to Croatian higher education institutions in planning their own marketing activities aimed at potential students since motivation is part of the consumer decision-making process.