Analysis of students' attitudes on the quality of education in publicly and privately funded higher education institutions in the Republic of Croatia

Kvalitetno visokoškolsko obrazovanje temelj je za stvaranje uspješno obrazovanog stanovništva, koje je, nakon završenog studija, spremno za ulazak na tržište rada sa svim stečenim znanjima i vještinama, što će naposljetku dovesti do gospodarskog rasta i razvoja. Predmet istraživanja ovog diplomskog rada je usporedba stavova o kvaliteti obrazovanja u javnim i privatno financiranim visokoškolskim ustanovama u Republici Hrvatskoj. Cilj ovoga rada je, korištenjem primarnih i sekundarnih izvora podataka (anketnog upitnika i znanstvene i stručne literature), analizirati stavove i zadovoljstvo studenata koji pohađaju državne i privatne visokoškolske ustanove s ciljem utvrđivanja utjecaja vrste financiranja na stavove o kvaliteti obrazovanja. Anketni upitnik proveo se na uzorku snježne kugle (tzv. snowball sample), među studentima privatnih i državno financiranih visokoškolskih ustanova. Tijekom izrade rada koristile su se metode usporedbe, metode deskripcije, metode analize, metode sinteze i metode klasifikacije. Rezultati istraživanja pokazali su veće zadovoljstvo kvalitetom studija od strane studenata privatnih učilišta, ali i prisutnost predrasude prema privatnim učilištima od strane studenata javnih učilišta.Quality higher education is the foundation for creating a successfully educated population, which, after graduation, is ready to enter the labour market with all the acquired knowledge and skills, which will ultimately lead to economic growth and development. The subject of this thesis is the comparison of attitudes about the quality of education in publicly and privately funded higher education institutions in the Republic of Croatia. While using primary and secondary data sources (both survey questionnaire and scientific and professional literature), the aim of this paper is to analyse the attitudes and satisfaction of students attending public and private higher education institutions in order to determine the impact of funding on attitudes about education quality. The survey questionnaire was conducted on a snowball sample, among students of publicly and privately funded higher education institutions. Methods which were used during the preparation of the paper were methods of comparison, description, analysis, synthesis and classification. The results of the research showed greater satisfaction with the quality of studies by students of private colleges, but also the presence of prejudice against private colleges by students of public colleges