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Education is the basic human right on which the development of a society is largely dependent. Higher education has enormous potential to promote prosperity in developing nations. Standard and quality of higher education denote the changing trends in today’s modern and technological society throughout the world. In the context of Bangladesh various Education Commissions that were set up so far theoretically emphasized on unlocking potential at all levels of society and creating a pool of highly trained individuals to contribute to the national development (Monem and Baniamin, 2010). But the quality of higher education in Bangladesh has become a matter of debate and controversy in recent years. It is observed that lack of resources and insufficient facilities are the major challenges for ensuring the quality of higher education in Bangladesh. As Bangladesh is a developing country, newly established general public universities are suffering more due to low budgetary support than the older technical universities. Some key elements have been influencing the quality of higher education in Bangladesh. Those elements are modern teaching aids, library facilities, availability of books and journals in the library, laboratory facilities, research facilities, quality of course curricula, etc.(Sarkar, Rana, and Zitu, 2013).
In the case of higher education, the majority of the students prefer to go to public universities in Bangladesh. Most public universities in Bangladesh possess a long and glorious history of being home to the most meritorious students of the nation. The first university of Bangladesh was set up in Dhaka in 1921. The second university was set up in Rajshahi in 1953. In total, there had been 6 public universities in the country before 1971. After the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, during the last 49 years, the higher education scenario has greatly been transformed. The fact that there are currently 49 public universities indicates a significant change in the education sector. On the other hand, 107 private universities are providing education to the nation (UGC, 2010).
The popularity and demand for public universities display some distinct features. These universities offer a wide range of subjects in Science, Commerce, Liberal Arts, Humanities, Engineering and Technology, Law, Education and Medicine disciplines along with the best brains and researchers as faculty members. Library, laboratory, internet, and research facilities are thought to be better but in practice, these universities are weak and do not upgrade anything by coping up with the technological change. Seminars, symposiums, and workshops are often held in these institutions with a wide scope for national and international exposure for promising and young knowledge seekers. Another noteworthy facility which is very much desirable for the students from rural areas is the residential and boarding facilities at low cost/subsidized rates are available in these public universities (Monem and Baniamin, 2010).
Public universities are playing a very important role in educating the nation because without substantial financial assistance, low-income students simply cannot afford quality higher education in Bangladesh. Among all the public universities in Bangladesh, the University of Dhaka is widely regarded as the most prominent and premier university in terms of the quality of both students and teachers.
Admission to DU has become increasingly difficult. In 1995, only 3,730 out of 63,313 applicants to Dhaka University were reported to have been admitted (Quddus, 1999).
Because of increasing competition in the global education sector, the importance of service quality and student satisfaction has increased rapidly for achieving success. Every educational institution needs to understand its internal strength and weakness, and external opportunities and threats (Price, Matzdorf, Smith, and Agahi, 2003). In DU, students come from different areas of the country with different cultural backgrounds. As a result, their expectation and perception of satisfaction may differ. Dhaka University is not only competing with the local public and private universities but also many other universities in the world (Quddus, 1999).