Improving higher education through student satisfaction surveys

Along with the educational expansion and the increasing demand regarding accountability for the outcomes of higher education institutions, a great emphasis is put on students' feedback. The present paper is focused on the educational results obtained by the implementation of student satisfaction surveys in a Romanian university. The survey instruments measure three dimensions (the teaching and learning activities, the institutional material base, and the support services) and were tilled in by a total of 1038 national and international students, in two consecutive years. Two different surveys format were administered: traditional paper­ and-pencil and online. For both of the formats, the students' responses show that the most important aspects are the teaching and learning activities, followed by the material base, and then by the support services offered by the institution. However a less favorable feedback was revealed by the online format of the survey. For all the aspects evaluated, there is a gap between satisfaction and importance: the students rate higher the importance they attach to each of the dimensions than their satisfaction level with these dimensions.