Students’ Satisfaction from Academic Services Offered by Private Universities in Tanzania

Abstract

Drawing from international and local literatures on satisfaction studies, this paper comes as an attempt to find out the Level of Students’ Satisfaction in Academic Services Offered by Private Universities in Tanzania. Five (5) out of nineteen (19) Private Universities from Tanzania mainland and one (1) out of two (2) Private University from Tanzania Island were purposively selected to accomplish the study. A descriptive survey design was employed to obtain a largely quantitative data supplemented by qualitative elements. Three hundred and six (306) questionnaires were developed and randomly distributed to the students. A response rate of N (286)93% was achieved. The findings revealed that, majority of the respondents were not satisfied with Library Services, Internet Services and availability of enough spacious lecture halls. However, students were satisfied with programmes offered, examination results and students-staff relationship. It was concluded that, inadequate library services, limited size of lecture halls and inadequate internet services are critical issues affecting the level of students’ academic satisfaction in private universities which could also jeopardize the quality of education services offered. Thus the study recommended to the Government of Tanzania through the responsible ministry to enact policies which are well monitored to ensure professionalism in Private Universities, library, internet and infrastructure availability. This will ensure students satisfaction with academic services offered in Private Universities of Tanzania.