University quality and emotional attachment of undergraduate students in a private higher education in Malaysia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to measure the influence of six university qualities, namely academic quality, academic staff quality, management quality, industrial linkage quality and facilities’ quality, on students’ total experience (STE) and emotional attachment. Design/methodology/approach – Judgmental sampling is used to collect data from a sample of 489 undergraduate students of a private higher academic institution. The data are then analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings – This study finds that only management quality forms a significant direct relationship with emotional attachment, whereas facility quality and industrial linkage form a significant relationship with emotional attachment only when mediated with STE. Originality/value – The results provide important findings to researchers and management of higher education institutions for future research directions.