IDENTIFYING FACTORS AFFECTING SATISFACTION WITH STUDENT HOUSING: A RESEARCH FRAMEWORK

Universities or Higher Learning Institutions worldwide are now competing for students both nationally and internationally. In order to recruit and retain students in the universities, there is a need to enhance student satisfaction. Many aspects have been the subject of studies concerning the student satisfaction towards their "academic life". However, there seems to be a limited number of studies concerning identifying the factors that influence student satisfaction regarding their living accommodation. Hence, it is the aim of this paper to ascertain factors affecting student satisfaction with their living accommodation provided "on campus" in Malaysian universities. Students, who are the main users and as such are better judges in the quality and standard of the facilities and services provided by the university. We submitted that the physical attributes of the university housing facility as well as the social attributes and demographic profiles of the students are the most important factors that will influence the student housing satisfaction. It is proposed that at the end of this paper, a framework for identifying factors that determine student satisfaction be presented.