Student Satisfaction in Jose Rizal University

Introduction

Students’ opinions about all aspects of academic life are now sought by educational institutions worldwide, generally, in the form of a satisfaction feedback questionnaire.
It is this student satisfaction survey, within the context of student satisfaction in JRU Jose Rizal University. In the Philippines, Higher Education (HE) students were considered to be the “primary customers” of a University ,even before they were liable for the payment of “up-front” tuition fees. Students are the direct recipients of the service provided. As if to confirm this status of the “student as customer”, the Commision on Higher Education (CHED) has introduced a National Student Survey. This survey is aimed at first year students to seek their views on a number of aspects of teaching, assessment and support provided by their university and its courses. The results will ultimately be used by the school to produce league tables of university performance. The position of a university in any league tables will impact ultimately on its image. Image has a strong impact on the retention of current students and the attraction of potential students.Indeed recruitment and retention of students has been moved to the top of most universities’ agendas by CHED due to their desire to increase the JRU student population in line with Government targets. Poor retention rates may have adverse funding consequences for University .This paper takes the view that student satisfaction, retention and recruitment are closely linked. Thus student satisfaction has become an extremely important issue for universities and their management. The aim is to try to maximise student satisfaction, minimise dissatisfaction and therefore retain students and so improve the institutions performance across a number of league tables.

Taking these criticisms into consideration the questionnaire used in the satisfaction survey asked only for perceptions of performance of a range of service aspects (as well