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© Proceedings of the Ruhuna Quality Assurance Sessions 2021 (RUQAS 2021)
st
21 September 2021

Introduction

Quality higher education plays a vital role in re-sharpening the minds of citizens so as to encourage
them to make a significant commitment towards national development. By fortifying the quality of

higher education services, the students can secure applicable knowledge and skills required for the

sound economic process and acquire global competitiveness. Accordingly, quality service in higher
education can have a positive impact on a nations’ economic development (Asiyai, 2020). Thus, it has

become an emerging requirement for any nation to make a great concern about the quality of higher
education. Providers (financial providers), employees, users of products (students), and the users of

outputs (employers) are the four main stakeholders who are involved in the higher educational services

(Schindler et al., 2015). Hence the perception towards the quality of service is likely to differ from
each standpoint.

Even though identifying students’ expectations and perception of quality is crucial for higher

education development, a relatively low priority has been given to their concerns (Senthikumar and
Arulraj, 2009). Accordingly, the present study aims to explore the undergraduates’ perception towards

the service quality of higher education in Sri Lanka as they are the primary customers who utilize the

higher education service. Service quality of higher education is one of the variables that increase the
number of satisfied students and thus enhance the students’ loyalty and it is defined as the difference

between the students’ expectation and their perceptions regarding actual delivery (O’Neill and Palmer,
2004). According to the HEdPERF scale described by Abdullah (2006), the undergraduates’

perception of service quality in higher education is measured in terms of academic, non-academic,
reputation, access, understanding, and program issues. Hence, the study focuses to identify the

undergraduate perception towards these parameters and to examine the satisfaction level of

undergraduates towards the service quality of higher education. The research findings provide a
significant insight for the Sri Lankan higher education providers to identify the gaps and provide

satisfactory service as it is a new and emerging requirement in the Sri Lankan education sector.

Methodology

The primary data were collected by the administration of a structured questionnaire which was

developed in the English language. The initial questionnaire was prepared with the help of a literature
survey. Students' service experiences are complex and distinct from those of consumers in other

service industries. As a result, it is widely agreed that industry-specific service measures should be

used to assess the quality of each industry's services. Accordingly, the HEdPERF scale proposed by
Abdullah (2006), six dimensions (academic, non-academic, reputation, access, understanding, and

program issues) were considered in this study to measure the service quality of higher education. The
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