Education Commons^™

Undergraduate Student Satisfaction: Investigating The Measurement, Dimensionality, And Nature Of The Construct Using The Rasch Model, Paul Stephens

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

Of the many potential and espoused outcomes of higher education, it was satisfaction that rose to prominence for Alexander Astin, stating, “it is difficult to argue that student satisfaction can be legitimately subordinated to any other education outcome” (1993, p. 273). This high endorsement of the construct of satisfaction is backed by a plethora of arguments of its importance for college and university decision makers. A thorough and accurate rendering of student satisfaction measurement is requisite.

To calculate student satisfaction as the magnitude of item endorsement leaves a measure that is sample specific. The goal of a universal and unidimensional …