Mission Statements in Top Higher Education Institutions—What Do They Have in Common?

The present paper envisages an analysis of the main goals and future directions of action in the higher education sector at world level. In recent years higher education institutions apply professional management principles and guide their activities using business specific strategic tools. Starting from the fact that higher education institutions can learn from the best, the purpose of the paper is to analyze the main directions included in the mission statements of the top 150 higher education institutions at world level, according to rankings. The two main objectives of the analysis are: (a) to identify the main directions included in the mission statements of the best universities in th…