Abstract
Selecting applicants for academic programs is generally undertaken due to solely academic criteria, which is not always appropriate. This paper addresses two challenges: what criteria should be considered in selecting students for bridging program (BP), and how these criteria should be evaluated. The proposed methodology conceptualizes the research problem, selects the appropriate data collection strategy, constructs the initial analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model employing Delphi questionnaire method, and produces the final AHP hierarchy construction. The results are evaluated by applying the back feeding technique, comparing the final AHP ranking score of the historical data of applicants (students) and their grade point average score ranking. The contributions of this research are to enhance educational process by helping and supporting decision making with a high degree of confidence and transparency, and enabling selection of the most qualified applicants based on a standard and an appropriate method.