Journal Article

Evaluation of educational services quality and its impact on students’ satisfaction and loyalty based on academic quality improvement program (AQIP) model

Khosravi, Ahmad, Shahsavar, Hajar, Amiri, Mohammad, Shahir-Roudi, Erfan

2025

Overview

Background and objectives To ensure sustainable growth, higher education institutions must enhance educational service quality, student satisfaction, and loyalty. In this regard, the present study seeks to evaluate the relationship between educational services quality, students’ satisfaction and loyalty at Shahroud University of Medical Sciences (northeast of Iran) in 2023. Methods and materials This is a cross-sectional study, consisting of 316 medical students which were selected by multi-stage random sampling method. Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP), Students’ academic satisfaction and Students’ Loyalty questionnaires were used. The relationship between the latent and observer variables were analyzed using the structural equation method (SEM). Results Majority of students, 229 (72.5%) were female. While the mean score for evaluation of educational services quality was 63.4 ± 14.8, the mean scores for satisfaction with educational services and loyalty to the institution were 29.0 ± 6.6 and 29.2 ± 4 respectively. A significant and direct relationship was observed between the educational services quality score and the satisfaction score (standardized Beta coefficient = 0.83). Our findings revealed no direct association between educational services quality and student loyalty. However, this relationship is mediated by student satisfaction (standardized Beta coefficient = 0.94). Conclusion Given the impact of educational service quality on student satisfaction and loyalty, we recommend targeted initiatives to: enhance faculty expertise, meet student needs (educational and services), improve facilities, foster respectful interactions, increase faculty-student engagement, enhance flexibility of curricula, offer academic advising, elevate teaching quality, and upgrade learning spaces and dormitories. We recommend focusing on both weaknesses and strengths, and repeatedly measuring service quality to ensure continuous improvement. 

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Academic Failure / Academic quality improvement program / Accreditation / Adult / Brand loyalty / College Science / College Students / Colleges & universities / Competition / Competitive advantage / Cross-Sectional Studies / Customer services / Education / Education, Medical, Undergraduate - standards / Educational aspects / Educational Change / Educational Quality / Educational research / Educational service quality / Educational services / Employment Potential / Ethics / Evaluation / Expectation / Female / Higher education / Humans / Improvement Programs / Institutional Survival / Interpersonal Relationship / Iran / Learner Engagement / Likert Scales / Loyalty / Male / Measurement Techniques / Medical Education / Medical students / Opinions / Path Analysis / Personal Satisfaction / Place of Residence / Program Evaluation / Psychological aspects / Quality Improvement / Quality management / Quality of service / Questionnaires / Sampling / Satisfaction / School Holding Power / Statistical Analysis / Student Improvement / Student participation / Student retention / Student Satisfaction / Student Surveys / Students, Medical - psychology / Students, Medical - statistics & numerical data / Success / Surveys / Surveys and Questionnaires / Theory of Medicine/Bioethics / University students / Young Adult