This paper presents a market driven model for assessing the service quality of support services in higher education, primarily for United States institutions, by examining higher education within the context of a complex service industry. The paper begins by explaining the development of the model and its implications for service management. Next, a description is given of higher education as a service industry. An illustration is provided of the combination of the institution's internal market offering (degrees and courses offered) and related activities within a framework of the external factors (social, cultural, legal, political, economic, and technological) that affect the institutional choice of prospective students (and their parents). The support services that a college or university offers and their perceived quality by the customer (student) are examined in terms of the services' ability to satisfy student needs and perceptions. The managerial implications for the design of support services are discussed, as well as the implications involved in attempting to measure service quality. Ten determinants are listed for measuring service quality (path analysis), and their use is explained. The determinants are based upon student expectations of service quality rather than on historic goals or operating policies of the unit. Contains 31 references. (GLR)