An empirical study of students’ satisfaction with professional accounting education programs, Sri Lanka

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the factors affecting students' satisfaction with professional accounting courses offered by Professional Accounting Education Institutions, and then aims to assess the impact of students' satisfaction and students' loyalty towards Professional Accounting Education Institutions in Sri Lanka. It is evident that a significant gap exists between student enrolment and the rate of students’ passing out as professional accountants as per the annual reports of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka (2014-2018). The study adopted a deductive methodology while employing a stratified random sampling technique and distributed 500 questionnaires which had a response rate of 80%. The data was analyzed using structural equation modeling via SPSS and AMOS versions 25. The study concludes that course assessment and institutional image, teaching methods, teaching staff, course organization and infrastructure facilities, and institutional administration and efficiency significantly impact the student satisfaction. And also, it concludes that the students’ satisfaction significantly impacts students’ loyalty. This study add value to the literature by focusing the students’ satisfaction from two extreme angles (i.e., students’ need and loyalty) and introduces a new model which would enhance the appropriate administration of the Professional Accounting Education Institutions