220 Int. J. Education Economics and Development, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2015 Copyright © 2015 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Factors influencing the accounting and finance undergraduate department choice in Greece Mihail Diakomihalis* Department of Accounting and Finance, Epirus University of Applied Sciences, Greece Email: diakom@teiep.gr *Corresponding author Alina Hyz Department of Accounting and Finance, Piraeus University of Applied Sciences, Greece Email: alinahyz@teipir.gr Grigorios Gikas Department of Accounting and Finance, Epirus University of Applied Sciences, Greece Email: gikas@teiep.gr Abstract: The paper examines and tries to establish the ranking of the criteria that determine the selection of a higher educational institute’ department by the prospect students in Greece. The methodology applied in order to satisfy the research aim is the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The case study concerns two groups of students. One group consists of students of the central Greek technological educational institute situated in Athens and another from peripheral tertiary institution situated in the region of Epirus. The results confirm that the ranking of students’ selection criteria is different in two investigating groups. Most students from the central educational institutions seem to be attracted by ‘financial factors’ with ‘family income’ being the decisive sub-criterion, while the selection of a peripheral department is more affected by ‘personal factors’ among which ‘life quality’ and ‘leisure time options’ are the most important. Keywords: analytic hierarchy process; AHP; decision making process; university/college choices; higher education; accounting; finance; Greece. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Diakomihalis, M., Hyz, A. and Gikas, G. (2015) ‘Factors influencing the accounting and finance undergraduate department choice in Greece’, Int. J. Education Economics and Development, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp.220–235. Biographical notes: Mihail Diakomihalis received his BSc from City University of N.Y., MSc from State University of N.Y., MSc and PhD from the University of the Aegean. He has more than 17 years of teaching and research