he COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on most of the sectors in the world. This includes the higher education sector, which has been hit the hardest by the sharp decline in student enrolment. The economic challenges that private higher education institutions (HEIs) face, in particular, necessitate the provision of a better service management to ensure their viability and sustainability. In this regard, private HEIs must reintroduce educational services focusing on the online setting and enhance students’ experience, which may enable them to reclaim competitive advantages and attract more students. However, service experience has frequently been assessed on an affective basis and viewed as having a unidimensional value. As a result, it has become a challenge to determine which service experiences to best represent students. This study aims to explore students’ online service experiences in Malaysian private HEIs. A two-phase data collection and analysis strategy was designed as follows: (1) exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to identify the underlying factors of online service experiences; and (2) confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to refine and confirm the factors obtained. For the EFA, 200 data points were collected via email and social media. Subsequently, 375 data points were gathered for CFA via social media platforms. The study also employed nomological, predictive and HTMT analyses to examine and validate the outcomes. The study suggests six dimensions representing students’ online service experiences: Ease of use, enjoyment, usefulness, positive surprise, reliability and perceived risk. The findings imply that students exhibit high affective and cognitive intensities with the HEIs. Individuals who are aware of their affective and cognitive intensities are more likely to respond positively to HEIs. Based on the basic idea of high affective and cognitive intensities, the study’s outcomes assume that students who consider service experience as their core behavioural pattern will be more likely to have a favourable attitude towards their institutions. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.