Evaluating higher education service quality in an emerging education hub: Evidence from international students in Hainan

Amidst the restructuring of global student mobility, China has emerged as a dual player—simultaneously the world’s largest source of outbound students and an increasingly prominent destination for inbound learners. Leveraging its strategic location within the Belt and Road Initiative and the preferential policies of the Free Trade Port, Hainan is accelerating its transformation into a regional education hub. However, scholarship regarding the service quality experienced by its growing international student cohort remains limited. Drawing on the five-dimensional SERVQUAL framework (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy) and operationalized via the SERVPERF scale, this study surveyed 115 international students in Hainan following expert validation and pilot testing. The results reveal a complex landscape: (1) while all five dimensions were rated as "acceptable," reliability scored highest, whereas empathy and responsiveness emerged as critical weaknesses; (2) empathy proved to be the strongest predictor of overall satisfaction; and (3) funding source significantly influenced perceived quality, with institutional scholarships associated with higher satisfaction than national, provincial, or self-funded options. No significant effects were found for gender, level of study, length of stay, or region of origin. Notably, the sample is predominantly composed of Asian undergraduates (approximately 80 %) and government scholarship recipients, signaling structural imbalances and limited cultural diversity. Based on these findings, the paper proposes a multidimensional roadmap to elevate Hainan’s service ecosystem from "acceptable" to "excellent," advocating for structured intercultural training, multilingual e-service platforms, and the integration of scholarship services with pilot part-time work visas.