The success or failure of service-based organizations is determined in large part by consumers’ perceived value of those services. Value can be measured in terms of consumers’ perceived performance quality in comparison with the cost to consumers of purchasing the service. The ideal goal of service marketing organizations is to obtain and maintain a loyal base of delighted customers. Loyalty can be measured in terms of customer satisfaction, retention levels, and perception of service quality. In the higher education industry, private institutions compete for student enrollment with state-funded institutions on factors other than cost value. Standard quality and satisfaction survey instruments for service-based organizations were designed to measure generic attributes. Each service industry has some unique characteristics resulting in different customer expectations of quality performance associated with the industry. For the higher education service industry, there is no customized satisfaction survey instrument that is used to measure attributes unique to the industry. This article develops a theoretical basis for designing such a customized higher education survey instrument. The goal will be to provide school leaders in higher education with data that identify key service performance programs within the institution useful for facilitating sufficient, sustained enrollment of satisfied, or preferably, delighted students in order for the institution to remain competitive and viable.