ASSESSING STUDENT-CENTRIC SERVICE QUALITY GAPS IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: A FACTOR ANALYTIC APPROACH

ABSTRACT In the current era of intense competition in higher education, institutions must use a student-centric strategy to ensure service quality. With the emergence of increasingly evolving learners, student expectations, and perceptions levels have become vital benchmarks for evaluating institutional performance and overall success. The present study explores the discrepancy between students' expectations and perceptions of service delivery in higher education institutions. Using a structured questionnaire, data were collected from a stratified random sample of 451 students from Uttarakhand. The instrument measured expected and perceived service quality using a 7-point Likert scale. To uncover the underlying structure of service quality as perceived by students, Exploratory Factor Analysis was employed, and these dimensions were subsequently validated through Confirmatory Factor Analysis, ensuring structural consistency and construct validity. To assess the significance of the differences between expectations and perceptions, paired sample t-tests were conducted. The finding revealed statistically significant (p<0.05) gaps in a variety of aspects, including academic responsiveness, teaching methodology, pedagogy, academic amenities, and support facilities. These findings emphasize the urgent need for higher education institutions to improve staff behaviour, teaching practices, infrastructure, and student support mechanisms better to meet students' academic and personal development needs, thereby improving overall student satisfaction and institutional effectiveness. Keywords- service quality, expectation-performance gap, higher education, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis