Percepción de estudiantes sobre la comunicación institucional universitaria

The aim of this research is to evaluate the organizational communication of 21 Ecuadorian universities, from the audience's perception. An online survey with internal consistency (ω=0.91) was applied to 3,540 students. Their perception as potential and current students was valued, the data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test and the Kendall’s τ coefficient. It is evident that the factor that influenced the most the institution choice is cost, that private universities manage the relationship with students better, and that satisfaction with institutional communication is correlated with commitment that current students feel. It is essential that HEIs have their own communication departments and that they value online and offline channels, as well as the perception of parents, since they have a high influence on the decision of their children.