What's the single best predictor of overall satisfaction with undergraduate business programs? According to recent survey findings, it's satisfaction with the quality of instruction in major classes. What has virtually no impact on overall student satisfaction? SAT/ACT scores, class sizes, number of hours worked and work load.

Recent issues of Newsline have reported the results of studies sponsored by AACSB and Educational Benchmarking, Inc. (EBI) regarding many aspects of student satisfaction with full- and part-time MBA programs. As part of the AACSB/EBI Student Satisfaction Project, undergraduate programs also were examined. In fact, 9,340 students representing 93 institutions participated in the undergraduate study conducted last spring. The students completed a comprehensive questionnaire that included a variety of demographic information as well as 120 questions in a 1-7 scale format addressing various aspects that may be associated with student satisfaction in undergraduate programs.

Participating institutions received extensive information about their students' satisfaction and comparative information about six peer/competitor programs of their choice. Information provided to participating institutions for the six peer/competitor programs were reported for each school, without specifying individual school identities.

The essential question raised by the AACSB/EBI joint project is what are the elements associated with high levels of student satisfaction in undergraduate programs. Consistent with that objective, the study relied on three questions to capture "overall satisfaction" with undergraduate programs:

• To what extent did your undergraduate business experience fulfill your expectations?
• When you compare the total expense to the quality of education, how do you rate the value of the investment you made in your undergraduate business program?
• How inclined are you to recommend your undergraduate business program to a close friend?

The study also relied on a series of questions assessing general areas relevant to the delivery of an effective undergraduate business program that would reasonably be expected to affect students' satisfaction:

• Quality of Faculty and Instruction for Required Courses
• Quality of Faculty and Instruction for Courses in Students' Major
• Breadth of the Curriculum (e.g., International Perspective, Social Responsibility and Ethics, Technology, Practical Applications)
• Preparation for and Use of Computer Applications in the Classroom
• Extent of Duplication in the Curriculum
• Size of Enrollments in Required Courses and those for Students' Majors
• Amount of and Quality of Student Teamwork
• Effectiveness of Course Sequencing
• Extent and Quality of Skills Training (e.g., Presentation, Written Communication, Team Effectiveness, Computer)
• Quality of Services by the Undergraduate Program Office
• Academic Quality, Camaraderie among and Interaction with Classmates
• Student Organizations and Extracurricular Activities
• Availability and Access to Computing Facilities
• Quality of Classroom and Instructional Facilities
• Quality of Faculty and Non-Faculty Student Advising
• Quality of Placement and Career Services

The study included other potential indicators of overall satisfaction with undergraduate programs. Among these were students' SAT/ACT scores, undergraduate grade-point-average and the average number of hours worked weekly. Also included were two questions related to the work load required in undergraduate courses. One question addressed the work load associated with required courses; the other addressed the work load for courses in students' majors.

The Results

What Matters to Undergraduate Business Students?

The study reported results that are interesting across a variety of dimensions. As indicated in Table 1, the single best predictor, by a large factor, of overall satisfaction with undergraduate programs was satisfaction with the quality of instruction in major classes. Also an important predictor was quality of faculty and teaching for required courses. As noted by Dan R. Dalton, dean of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, "The apparent importance of these issues reflects a certain tension in undergraduate students' lives. Frankly, undergraduate students have no choice about required courses and those courses necessary for their majors. When a student has no choice, the responsibility for the quality of the course lies directly on the school," he said. "If these courses result in a poor experience for students, one would not be surprised with their disfavor. If that is true of required courses in general, it takes little imagination to appreciate how unsettling bad experiences would be in courses required for students' majors," said Dalton.

The quality of placement and career services was the second most important indicator of overall undergraduate student satisfaction. This probably is consistent with most preconceptions about the centrality of such services for graduating students. For many undergraduate students, indeed virtually all of them who will not be attending graduate school, business placement is the critical end-state of the educational experience.

It also is apparent that the academic quality of classmates, their camaraderie and their capacity to work effectively in teams is an important factor in the overall satisfaction of undergraduate business students. This may suggest that the "satisfied" undergraduate perceives that his or her experience in the business school has a social as well as an academic component.

Undergraduate business students responded very favorably to what EBI has referred to as the "breadth of the curriculum." Elements of such breadth in the curriculum include an international perspective, effective coverage of social responsibility and ethics, technology, and practical applications.

There are other factors that help to understand overall satisfaction for undergraduate business students. EBI refers to these as "minor predictors" (see Table 1). While statistically significant, individual minor predictors add little to overall student satisfaction but, in aggregate, they merit consideration. In this group are:

• quality of services of the undergraduate program office
• student organizations and extracurricular activities
• quality of classroom and instructional facilities
• preparation for and use of computer applications in the classroom
• availability and access to computing facilities
• quality of faculty and non-faculty student advising

It also is notable that students with higher grade-point-averages are slightly more satisfied with the overall undergraduate business program.

What is of Little Concern to Undergraduate Business Students?

The study revealed a number of things that have virtually no impact on overall student satisfaction: SAT/ACT scores, class sizes, number of hours worked and work load. Clearly, these results do not sustain what many faculty and staff have come to believe is true. There is some evidence, for example, that students with higher SAT/ACT scores are the better students, as defined by GPA (a correlation of .35). There is, however, no evidence that the incoming SAT/ACT scores at any particular level are an indicator of student satisfaction.

Much has been said about class sizes and their suspected impact on student experiences. Smaller programs routinely argue that their ability to provide relatively small classes is an inherent advantage; larger institutions are sometimes apologetic about their inability to do likewise. It is notable, then, that the size of enrollments in required courses and those courses necessary for students' majors are simply not a factor in overall undergraduate business school student satisfaction.

It also is interesting that the average number of hours worked per week by undergraduate students has no impact on student satisfaction. Moreover, the relationship between the average number of hours worked per week and undergraduate GPA is surprisingly modest -.10.

Work load often has been suggested as an important factor in the student experience. While true perhaps on other dimensions, it has no effect on overall student satisfaction. Neither the work load associated with required courses nor the work load for major courses are elements in determining undergraduate business student satisfaction.

"Contemporary business schools do not have the luxury of identifying all those elements that may affect student satisfaction and allocating resources to their improvement," said Dalton. "Instead, most of us will have to focus on those aspects of undergraduate business education that promise the greatest returns and invest in those. Based on the results of the AACSB/EBI study, it appears that our investments in the quality of both courses in the major and courses required of all students will pay good dividends in terms of student satisfaction with our programs. Similarly, resources allocated to business placement and career services would be sound, as well. I do not dismiss the importance of other factors; with limited resources, however, those appear to be the best bets," he said.

Detailed information concerning enrollment in the Spring 1998 AACSB/EBI Student Satisfaction Project at the MBA level and at the undergraduate level was mailed to AACSB educational member representatives in January. Special analysis will be included this year on a pilot basis for undergraduate accounting programs at all schools participating in the undergraduate project. For further information, contact Glenn Detrick, managing director, EBI, at 314-963-1018 or Email at ebiebi@aol.com