Determinants of students' loyalty at Universitas Terbuka

Abstract

Factors affecting students' loyalty were explored in this paper. The objective of the study was to identify the most important factors involved in determining students' loyalty at Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia. The research was conducted through a quantitative approach and all data were processed using the path analysis method. Respondents were students registered at the Faculty of Social and Political Science, the Faculty of Economics, and the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. A proportionate simple random sampling was taken and 193 questionnaires were completed. These questionnaires explored five variables and 24 attributes through 114 valid and reliable statements using a Likert Scale ranging from 1 – 5. These instruments were used to gather responses from students to ascertain what factors determined students' loyalty at Universitas Terbuka. The respondents were students registered in the first semester of academic year of 2012. They have also been registered in least two previous semesters in the relevant program/faculty. Students' loyalty was the dependent variable. Service quality, student expectations and university image were the independent variables; student satisfaction was the intervening variable. Nine hypotheses were examined, and all were validated by the analysis. The most significant factors affecting students' loyalty were student expectations and university image.