Student Expectations in the New Millennium

Higher education has experienced vast changes as a result of global
political and economic developments. Cultural and social changes in
the last decade have also added to the continuing evolution of
higher education. These changes inevitably lead to changing
expectations of students entering higher education. An adequate
understanding of student expectations is crucial in ensuring a good
fit between higher educational institutions and their students.
This study attempts to carry out a baseline
descriptive-quantitative research on student expectations in the
higher education of Hong Kong. Four scales have been developed to
measure students’ attitude toward: 1. job-oriented curriculum
design, 2. user-friendly course delivery method, 3. opportunities
for lifelong learning, and 4. student consumerism. Students’
priority of what makes a good university, their reasons for going
to university, and their self-perception of ability to cope with
university life are also explored. The Student Expectations
Questionnaire (developed by the author) was used to gather data
from 857 first-year undergrads from nine institutions of higher
education in Hong Kong. Analyses include, among others, gender,
age, major of study as well as institution comparisons.