Students enter university with certain set of goals and expectations. The student retention rate is likely to be high when these goals and expectations are met. This is an important issue of concern particularly in economics program as the problem of declining enrolments among good students has been persistent partly because students prefer to choose more generalist business degrees or other related discipline such as management, marketing or e-commerce. This paper examines expectations and satisfaction level among undergraduates at the Faculty of Economics and Administration (FEA), University of Malaya.

A survey was conducted to students attending core courses in 2007 using self-administered questionnaire containing background of learner and the priority-satisfaction questions. The latter included measurement on student centeredness, service excellence, instructional effectiveness, campus support services and campus life. This analysis is based on 336 respondents mostly between the ages of 19 to 22 years.

The findings show that the main reasons for choosing FEA include academic reputation, campus image, financial aid, location and recommendations from family and friends. The statements that students give most priority to and most satisfied with are knowledgeable lecturers and feeling of sense of pride about the faculty. While the students are also satisfied with the content of the program and computer facilities, the mean gap score between expectation and satisfaction level is statistically significant in almost all areas of concern.