South Africa University students' perceptions of key education service quality determinants

Abstract

Understanding higher education (HE) service quality is critical for success in a highly competitive environment, since through a better understanding of the determinants of HE service quality, HE managers and leaders could better manage HE service quality better. A survey was conducted among a purposive judgmental sample of 400 students, from two HE institution campuses in SA, to identify their perceptions of key service quality determinants (KSQDs), and the importance of the KSQDs, by using a semi-structured questionnaire. It was ascertained that students ranked KSQDs as follows: Responsiveness, Assurance, Reliability, Tangibles, and Empathy (RARTE), and in terms of their importance, the KSQDs were ranked as follows: Responsiveness, Reliability, Assurance, Empathy and Tangibles (RRAET). Higher education leadership should take note of the KSQDs and focus their resources on these in order to create an organization that is student-centric.