  The article is devoted to the competitiveness analysis of Russian
institutions of higher education in international and local markets. The
methodology of research is based on generalized modified principal component
analysis. Principal components analysis has proven its efficiency in business
performance assessment. We apply a modification of this methodology to
construction of an aggregate index of university performance. The whole set of
principal components with weighting coefficients equal to the proportions of
the corresponding explained variance are utilized as an aggregate measure of
various aspects of higher education. This methodology allows to reveal the
factors which exert positive or negative influence on university
competitiveness. We construct a kind of objective ranking of universities in
order to estimate the current situation and prospects of higher education in
Russia. It is applicable for evaluation of public policy in higher education,
which, by inertia, aims to promote competition rather than cooperation among
universities.
