O IMPACTO DO TAMANHO DA CLASSE NA PERCEPÇÃO DE QUALIDADE DOS ALUNOS DE UMA INSTITUIÇÃO DE ENSINO SUPERIOR PRIVADA BRASILEIRA.

The changes in the Brazilian Higher Education industry have caused strong business pressures on local institutions, including increasing number of students per class. This trend rises risks for the institutions in failing at providing quality services. Several studies propose negative correlation between class size and education service quality. Thus, this study aims at evaluating the allegedly negative correlation between service quality and class size through students' own perspective (perceived quality). Based on the theoretical premises of Parasaruman et al. SERVQUAL Scale (1988) this research assumes a quantitative nature using descriptive and inferential statistics (Exploratory Factorial Analysis, Cronbach's alpha, correlation). The author did not find evidences of similar studies during the bibliographic review; showing the innovative and contributive value of the present research. The results show tendencies of possible negative correlation between class size and perceived quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]