Students as customers of higher education: Perceptions of South African students

An increase in the number of privately-owned higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa has created greater competition among private and public HEIs since all are competing for the same pool of potential students. Thus, marketers of HEIs have begun to realize the importance of placing a renewed focus on their students’ (customers’) needs. This study aimed to establish whether students perceive themselves as customers of HEIs, as well as the extent to which they perceive the attitude of academic and administrative staff toward them as being customer-focused. A total of 411 online questionnaires were administered to students at select private and public HEIs in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were conducted on the survey data using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. As a result, the majority of students perceived themselves as customers of the HEI. Furthermore, students’ perception of the attitude of academic and administrative staff toward them reinforced the view that they are indeed customers of their HEI. Thus, by working with the academics and administrators, HEIs should consistently identify and satisfy the service needs of students.