Assessing Stakeholders’ Satisfaction of a Catholic University Graduate School in the Philippines

Abstract

Students around the world pursue graduate education for their professional development, career promotions, and lifelong learning.  Seen as an investment, universities faced challenges with rising expectations and industry competitiveness on factors influencing satisfaction to improve graduate school service quality.  The paper aims to assess and compare the level of stakeholders' satisfaction of a Catholic University Graduate School in the Philippines using the 7Ps of a marketing framework, including the product, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence.  The study applied the quantitative research design using a descriptive and comparative approach.  The respondents were the 270 graduate school students, faculty members, and alumni determined using the simple random sampling method. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to gather data.  Percentage, mean, and standard deviation were used for the descriptive analysis. Meanwhile, the Mann-Whitney U-test was used to determine the significant differences in the level of satisfaction when the stakeholders are grouped according to their designation, academic programs, average monthly income, and employer. The findings showed that the overall level of satisfaction of the stakeholders of a graduate school in terms of the 7Ps of the marketing mix is high, with the product as the highest rating and price as the lowest. A significant difference was found in the level of satisfaction of the stakeholders when they are grouped according to the designation, academic program, family's average monthly income, and employment. The findings showed that the graduate school in the Catholic university offered good quality graduate education, has qualified and competent professors, has an accessible location, and has effective policies and procedures that exceed the expectations of the stakeholders.