The purpose of this study is to examine the key determinants that influencing the parents when they select the kindergarten for their children. According to the problems of continuing decline of birth rate in Taiwan and market situation of increasing in the number of kindergartens, it is resulted as the high competition in preschool education. This research conducted the questionnaire survey by using sample of 338 parents in Yunlin, Taiwan who made decision in kindergarten selection for their children to explore the key selection criteria of parents. The results showed ranking of 27 critical factors that be categorized into five clusters after adopting factor analysis which include background and service of kindergarten, environment and facilities, price and conveniences, professional teacher and curriculum management. Kindness, professional knowledge and experiences of teachers are the top three ranking that most influence the parental choice. The outcomes of research can be important information for the policymaker or preschool administrators in planning the competitive strategies in recruiting and retaining students in the highly competitive market environment.
