What Drives Student Loyalty in Universities: An Empirical Model from India

Abstract

Student loyalty is one of the major goals of educational institutions. A loyal student population is a source of competitive advantage. The specific objective of this research was to develop an empirical model linking student loyalty to student satisfaction and student perception of the reputation of the institution. Based on the data collected from students with leading universities in India, a structural model was developed explaining 57.7% of the variance in the student loyalty. The student satisfaction was seen to be a major driver of student’s loyalty. The reputation of the institution also had a positive impact on student loyalty through the mediating variable student satisfaction. The research also validated a measurement model for student satisfaction and prioritized various dimensions of the satisfaction construct.