Student Expectations of the University Experience: Levels and Antecedents for Pre-Entry Freshmen

The research tested a model with components from the services marketing literature on pre-entry freshmen to determine the influence of intentions on student expectations of the university experience. The research found that students have two distinct levels of expectations, a lower level of realistic expectations of what will happen, and a higher, ideal level of what should happen. Each level of expectations has various influences. When the data were divided by two ethnic groups, significant differences were found for intentions and influences on expectations, as well as expectations.