The Student Is Not the Customer—An Alternative Perspective

<title>ABSTRACT</title> This paper investigates some of the reasons that institutions of higher education should NOT regard the student as the customer. It is proposed that differences between profit-seeking enterprises and colleges and universities preclude the customer-focus from being an entirely useful one. In fact, the student-as-a-customer paradigm may cause institutions to concentrate on short-term, narrow student satisfaction, rather than meeting the long-term needs of an entire range of stakeholders. An alternative paradigm, the student as collaborative partner, is proposed and its potential benefits are examined.