The Impact of the Transparency Policy on University Students´ Trust and Intention of Continued Use

The loss of trust suffered by public institutions means that they are trying to identify the existing formulae so that this can be restored, and this includes transparency. In universities, certain changes in their situation (lower funding, higher competition and pressure on stakeholders) mean that the demand for transparency policies is even greater. Although the literature initially states that the transparency generated by the spread of online information is a suitable formula for increasing citizens´ trust in the public institutions, recent papers question the validity of this relationship. This paper analyses the effectiveness of the transparency strategy carried out by the Spanish Open University UNED (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia) in terms of the impact on students´ trust and, what is most important, on their intention of continuing to use its services.