The study of the higher education system has been lately in Romania an important topic in different type of studies. Enrolling itself in this trend our study wishes to provide a new perspective on the entire system by framing it in the constraints of a competitive market. Therefore in the first step of our approach we intend to identify some of the external factors that affect a university and that should definitely be investigated in the stage of environmental scan of a strategic planning process. After having the main players present on this “market” identified, we use a quantitative and qualitative approach, based on sampling survey techniques in order to perform in-depth analyses of the potential customers of such an institution. In the end, summarizing the entire study, we try to outline the main factors that should be regarded with attention by the management team of a university when developing a managerial strategy for an institution that strives to remain relevant and efficient on such a competitive market as the higher education system.