Measuring Student Satisfaction and Loyalty: A Waste or a Goldmine?

Purpose:

This non-experimental quantitative research study was conducted to identify the key factors affecting a student’s likelihood to recommend the college as measured by Net Promoter Score.  The focus of the study was whether and to what extent student and institutional variables such as academic status, student satisfaction, and demographic factors predict students’ loyalty behavior, and whether those factors differ among student groups.  

Methods:

Archival data were collected from 2,732 records of pre-licensure baccalaureate degree nursing students at a multi-campus, regionally-accredited nursing college.  Data from Net Promoter Score surveys, annual student satisfaction surveys, end-of-course surveys, and student records were analyzed using correlation, cross tab, Pearson chi-square, and factor analysis to identify factors that had a significant relationship with the dependent variable Net Promoter rating.  Once relationships were established, a hierarchical model was developed and multinomial logistics regression was employed to determine the most important contributors to Net Promoter rating. 

Results:

Results of the study indicated that the most important drivers of a pre-licensure BSN nursing student’s satisfaction/loyalty rating were satisfaction with faculty, satisfaction with the curriculum, satisfaction with course quality, and satisfaction with college communication.  Results of the study also demonstrated that students who responded that they were likely to refer the school to others actually exhibited referral behavior, suggesting that an increase in Net Promoter rating is likely to increase student referral behavior.

Conclusion:

The study provides information with which college administrators can make decisions about allocation of resources to address issues that are most important to students. The results indicate that implementing initiatives that improve key drivers of satisfaction/loyalty likely will have a positive impact on ratings and actual referral behavior, and can have a positive impact on the institution's reputation, financial resources, and student engagement.