The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of the national image on the image of its tertiary education among non-nationals and on their choice of location for study. We present a conceptual model of how the image of the nation impacts on the image of tertiary education based upon Ajzen & Fishbein’s (1980) “theory of reasoned action”. With data from China & India, a model is developed from a calibration sample and tested against a validation sample using structural equation modelling.