In recent years, the intensification of competition among schools—particularly in the non-governmental (private) sector—has significantly heightened the importance of educational marketing and the determinants influencing school selection by families. This growing emphasis underscores the strategic role of marketing practices within educational institutions. The present study aims to identify key indicators and attributes influencing school choice from the perspective of academic literature. This qualitative research employed a summative content analysis approach. The study population comprised ten peer-reviewed domestic and international scholarly articles published in the domains of educational marketing, school choice, and educational management, which were selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through a systematic literature review and analyzed via qualitative content analysis involving coding, categorization, and abstraction. The findings revealed nine core components as the principal criteria considered by students and their parents in school selection: quality of education, infrastructure and facilities, temporal and spatial proximity to the school, financial costs, academic reputation, curriculum modernity, institutional credibility, developmental services, and positive feedback.
