42 © Science and Education Centre of North America Implementing Total Quality Management (TQM) on the Higher Education Institutions – A Conceptual Model

Abstract: Higher education can play a crucial role in the economic and cultural reconstruction and development of the nations. For hundreds of years, the universities and effective educational systems are development factors and agents of change in their communities. Jordan is one of the pioneer countries in higher education due to its credibility; so many students from Arab and foreign countries come to study in. Over the last ten years, a lot of innovative experiments are being done to improve the performance and introduced several laws and constitutions for both academic and educational standards aimed to further develop and improve its ability to compete consistently by successive Jordanian governments, realizing the importance of this sector for socio-economic and cultural development and this requires an ideal governance and service delivery, but the system of higher education in Jordan must be reshaped, the strength must be maintained, but the weaknesses must be addressed and developed, to serve a new social order, to meet the pressing national needs, and to respond to a context of new realities and opportunities. Through this piece of work, this research paper is a theoretical attempt to explain the implementation of TQM in higher education institutions in Jordan, and deals with issues related to quality in higher education, and identify variables influencing quality in this sector. JEL Classification: M1