Service Quality Issue in Higher Education

Nowadays, university is considered to have key roles in whole education system. Increased competition in educational environment has contributed to the growing importance of service quality measurement at business schools (Gbadamosi et al., 2008). Service quality assessment has attracted the attention of researchers in the past 20 years. The term service quality consists of service and quality which are both linked to the consumer. Various studies have confirmed the relevance of higher education for economic development. Higher education contributes to socio-economic development of a country. Universities are important for generation, preservation and dissemination of knowledge in order to contribute to socio-economic benefits of a country. Higher education institutions are being pressured to improve value for their activities and providing quality higher education service to students should be taken seriously. It is a proven fact that higher education plays an important role in achieving economic development. In the current economic shift towards knowledge economies, the role of higher education is even more emphasized. Higher education has three vital functions in a knowledge economy: knowledge creation, knowledge diffusion and knowledge transfer. The emerging demand for quality in higher education will be addressed on this paper. Higher education institutions should assess quality of their services and establish methods for improving quality. Activities of quality assurance should be integrated into the management process at higher education institutions.