Drivers of tuition fee setting practices for higher education institutions involved in international student recruitment

Tuition fee (or price) setting drivers are still an under-researched area. We attempt to fill this gap using universities as the basis of analysis. Grounded in pricing contingency theory, specifically, pricing capability literature, a conceptual model is developed using qualitative data from eight annual pricing cycles (2009–2017). We test the model using quantitative data collected over 18 months between 2017 and 2019. The findings add to the research on higher education marketing and provide managerial insights into how tuition fee setting can serve as an international marketing tool.