This study aims to examine the implementation of quality management principles and service quality in higher education institutions (HEI’s) based on student responses. This study involved 570 students from public and private universities in Bangka, the province of Bangka Belitung, Indonesia. This is a quantitative study with a correlational research design. The results showed that the implementation of quality management principles in universities had a very high correlation with service quality (r = 0.88). The results of this study prove that improving the implementation of quality management principles, such as development of cooperation, HR (human resources) focus, continuous development, process approach, leadership, process focus, and goal consistency of higher education will improve the quality of service rendered to students.