EFFECT OF SERVICE QUALITY ON STUDENTS’ SATISFACTION IN TANZANIA HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

This study examined the effect of service quality (SQ) dimensions on the students’ satisfaction in higher education in Tanzania. A cross sectional questionnaire survey involving 200 students was conducted at the college of Business Education, Dodoma Campus. A SERVQUAL Model with five SQ dimensions; tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, empathy and assurance was adopted in this study. To estimate the overall SERVQUAL index score, the difference of perceptions and expectations (P –E) was computed and finally the scores for each SQ dimension were summed and divided by five. Binary Logistic Regression Model was used to estimate the effect of SQ dimensions on students’ satisfaction. The results show that the SQ index of all SQ dimensions and the overall SERVQUAL index was negative implying that the SQ was negative. The regression results indicate that tangibles, reliability, empathy and assurance have negative effect on students’ satisfaction.