By investigating international students’ reasons for choosing higher education, this study attempts to reveal the factors influencing students’ tendency for international education with various descriptive statistics. The study is based on the scanning method. The international students studying at universities in Ankara in the academic year 2011-2012 were selected as the investigated population of this survey. A total of 545 students selected using the ‘appropriate sampling method’ from the research population constituted the sample of the research. The data were gathered through distributing a questionnaire composed of three different sections which was designed by the researcher. The data were first explained in terms of their frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. Little research has been conducted on international students in Turkey. According to the findings of this study, The majority of the students studying in Turkey come from Turkish-speaking neighboring countries. The findings of the present study also reveal that there seems to be no systematic policy for attracting international students to Turkey. Students’ academic accomplishment has been negatively influenced by their low level of proficiency in the Turkish language. In addition, international students also suffer from difficulty in becoming accustomed to their social environment. According to the findings of the study, most international students have economic problems. Despite these problems, the majority of the international students in Turkey were satisfied with their education. In order to maintain the satisfaction of international students, adopting both long-term and short-term strategies and policies by government is recommended. Having a positive attitude towards Turkey can be considered as one of the reasons to select Turkey as a destination for higher education. In general, the findings of the study illustrated that international students selected Turkey mainly due to their cultural proximity, Turkey’s comparatively developed economy and access to high-quality higher education.