ANALYSIS OF INTEREST IN READING ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM STUDENTS' PERSPECTIVE UNIVERSITY OF PALANGKA RAYA Teresya Loren 1 , Maria Arina Luardini 2 Corresponding author: teresyaloren@gmail.com Abstract: Interest in reading is an important factor in increasing a person's understanding and knowledge. This study aims to explore students' interest in reading in the English Education Study Program and the factors that influence it. Qualitative research methods were used to gain an in-depth understanding of this phenomenon. The research results show various patterns of reading interest among students, which are influenced by various internal and external factors. A discussion of the implications of these findings is also outlined in this article. Keywords: Interest in reading, Reading, Students perspective INTRODUCTION Higher education is an academic institution with academic activities to continue to explore knowledge. The activities and learning patterns at this level are also very different from the education levels at Primary School (SMP) and Senior High School (SMA). At this level, the term for those who study is also different, namely students. When attending lectures, students should not only listen and note down the information provided by the lecturer, but must be able to be critical of this information. This is in line with Sugiyanta's statement (Kartika and Mastuti, 2011) who stated that the strategy for attending lectures is not just by listening and taking notes, but is supported by a critical attitude from students when attending lectures, in the sense that students have prepared the lectures they are taking. Therefore, before attending lectures, students should have prepared and studied the lecture material they will be taking. One preparation that can be done is by reading. At this time, a reluctance to read tends to affect students, especially students of the English Language Education Study Program. This can be seen from the author's observations that when there are free hours, students prefer to spend time chatting about things that have nothing to do with the lecture material. For others, they prefer playing games with gadgets