The Student Is Not the Customer—An Alternative Perspective

This paper investigates some of the reasons that institutions of higher education should NOT regard the student as the customer. It is proposed that differences between profit-seeking enterprises and colleges and universities preclude the customer-focus from being an entirely useful one. In fact, the student-as-a-customer paradigm may cause institutions to concentrate on short-term, narrow student satisfaction, rather than meeting the long-term needs of an entire range of stakeholders. An alternative paradigm, the student as collaborative partner, is proposed and its potential benefits are examined.