SERVQUAL: Measuring higher education service quality in Thailand

The purpose of this paper is to investigate service quality in higher education in Thailand. Specifically, this study investigates the five dimensions of SERVQUAL instrumentation (reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy, and responsiveness). The study also examines the validity and reliability of SERVQUAL in assessing higher education in Thailand. A total number of 350 undergraduate students from a private university participated in this paper. The study found that the higher education in Thailand did not meet the expectations of undergraduate students. In all five dimensions of service quality, a gap was observed between undergraduate students' perceptions and expectations as follows: Reliability: -2.25, Responsiveness: -2.72, Assurance: -2.48, Empathy: -2.48, Tangible: -2.88. The gap analysis between service perceptions and expectations showed that all scores for perceptions were lower than their expectations scores, indicating that there are a lot of service improvements efforts need to be fulfilled to enhance the service quality. Consequently, for the institution to improve the service delivery it needs to upgrade facilities and equipment in order to decrease the gap between undergraduate students' perceptions and expectations may be helpful in higher education in Thailand. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Education and Research Center.