Australia’s university students are changing and their service expectations are changing too. Keeping up is harder than ever before.
While investment in improved service experience is on the rise in Australia’s universities, we continue to see students struggling through tasks such as enrolment, fees, timetabling, course progression and graduations, experiencing service provision that is not at the standard they receive in other aspects of their lives.
Where and why are our institutions getting stuck?
To find out, KPMG spoke to senior university colleagues across approximately half of Australia’s universities who are seeking to improve their offerings in student administration and service.
Student services in the age of the customer
Improving student service delivery
Key observations
In KPMG's 2021 report – Student experience in the age of the customer – we observed that university students are becoming more diverse, digital, discerning, demanding and debt-averse and that universities are finding it increasingly difficult to meet students’ needs.
We argued that student experience strategy needs to holistically considers students’ needs as learners, people and customers.
In our 2024 report we examine how these trends are impacting student service provision, which is primarily related to students’ customer experience but has significant impacts on their learner and personal experiences too.
The gap is rapidly widening between service experience in the higher education and what students experience in other areas of their lives.
Talking to senior university executives, we found that:
Rethinking student services
We identified six big shifts that are needed to modernise student services and better meet students’ needs.
Our report lays out the mechanisms to help universities to shift their student service models:
| FROM | TO |
|---|---|
| 1. Compliance-driven | Student-centric |
| 2. Supplier-led | Service-led |
| 3. Disconnected | Digitally connected |
| 4. Insight-poor | Insight-rich |
| 5. Fragmented | Partnered |
| 6. High-cost | High-value |
Based on our deep sector expertise, our team can help you find the right technology solutions to uplift your service delivery processes and respond to the challenges presented by modern student demands.
Watch the webinar
Future of Higher Education: Powering Student Management webinar (14 March 2024)
Our Future of Higher Education: Powering Student Management webinar delved into best practice in student service transformation.
KPMG's Higher Education Specialists
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Related articles and reports
Read KPMG's higher education insights and reports