In the college and university context, a satisfied student means positive word of mouth advertising and recommendations to others to enroll. Researchers have found that attention to long-term student satisfaction pays  handsome dividents to the university, including monetary constributions, word of mouth advertising, and future enrollments.

University student satisfaction has been defined in diverse ways. Some define it as contentment with the overall university experience. For others, university satisfaction involves the students subjective evaluation of his/her educational  experience.

In defining university satisfaction, it is helpful to draw on the lessons learned in measuring job satisfaction . A riview of research and theory defined job satisfaction as “a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job experiences.”

Generally, all things being equa, a university with satisfied students is believed to be a more effective institution than one whose students are dissatisfied with various aspects of the university. This is not because student satisfaction is an important “end in itself”, but because satisfied students tend to study harder and perform better than their dissatisfied counterparts.

Their satisfaction lead to motivation, which in turn leads to improved performance, and thus increased satisfaction.

There is evidence that students who enjoyed their university experience are also more likely to send their children to their alma mater and to make larger finacial constributions to it than those who did not.

Satisfaction is the result of concumers comparing their expectations and experiences on multiple factors. The students perceptions of specific services lead to global satisfaction, leading to purchase intentions (enrollment).

Sheldon C. Nord, Ph.D is the President of Universitas Pelita Harapan.