Higher Education Quality Assessment at a Public University: A Baseline Index Model

Abstract

In the wake of transition from least developed countries to the lower middle income countries policy makers should rank higher education quality at the top since the role of educated and skilled manpower is undeniable. Higher education in Bangladesh underscores cognitive learning in place of market-oriented skills such as using reasoning, understanding, communicating, applying knowledge, and solving real-life or workplace problems. This study evaluates the quality of higher education which may contribute to preparing the students for a better future. In this attempt identifying the critical attributes of quality higher education and forming and quantifying the value of Higher Education Quality Index (HEQI) has been done. Exploratory method has been used to identify higher education quality indicators for constructing the HEQI and it followed the reflective measurement approach of Structural Equation Model for quantification of the indicators. The HEQI scores are found to be ranging from 62.71 to 100 for all the respondents with a mean value of 84.74 and a median value of 84.62. Among the various factors of higher education, the study was emphatic respectively on knowledge, research, morality, professionalism, volunteering activities and creativity. Accordingly, it is found that knowledge explained a major portion (46%), followed by morality (12 %), professionalism and volunteering (10.5 %), and creativity (5 %) of the variation of the outcomes of HEQI. The study recommends improving the quality of higher education by facilitating market-oriented skills in Bangladesh.