Service Quality in Higher Education: A Comparative Study of Management and Education Institutions

Liberalization of the higher education sector has increased the access of students to institutions of higher learning; students of today are far more informed and have more choices in terms of institutions to pursue their higher studies. In the age of competition, the institutions of higher learning need to understand the customers' (students') perceptions of service quality and identify the gap between their expectations and these perceptions. The paper studies the students' perceptions of service quality in the present educational environment, using the modified service quality (SERVQUAL) instrument to measure five constructs: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. The study has been done on 500 students pursuing their post-graduation in management and education streams in 10 institutions located in the north Indian state of Haryana. A significantly negative gap is observed in the expectations and perceptions of the service quality of higher education, indicating a sense of dissatisfaction among the students.