Purpose - The growing popularity of quality management has left no sector untouched, and educational services are no exception. In the face of the innumerable demands that the stakeholders place, educational institutions like other organizations are realizing the significance of customer-centered philosophies. The enhancement of quality and the attempt to define, conceptualize, implement and measure it are areas of focus, and are being addressed by policy makers, educational planners and administrators. This paper is an attempt towards identification of the elements that would help design quality for the higher educational system. Design/methodology/approach - Based on a theoretical foundation, this paper is an empirical study conducted on select higher educational institutions to identify the various design characteristic constructs which would form the quality element/components for an educational system, and which, if implemented, would help design quality in education. The literature review helped conceptualize the variables that would constitute quality components for education. These were empirically tested and a comparative assessment made between internal and external customers of the educational system, the internal customers being the faculty and the administrative staff, and the external customers being students and the industry. Such an emphasis on customers of the educational system would assure a customer-centric design of the educational system, something which is prima facie to "quality management". Findings - The study helped identify the quality components, which would help design quality for institutes of higher education. Practical implications - The paper could be useful to policy makers, educational planners and administrators in developing a system that could lead to customer satisfaction. Originality/value -While studies have been conducted on customer requirement and the constructs, research on what would comprise the quality components is lacking. A study on this could help design an educational system that would lead to quality management in education and thereby lead to customer satisfaction.