The international higher education market is becoming more competitive as institutions of higher education compete globally with one another to recruit international students. This demands a thorough understanding of this market for strategic and policy-making purposes. The outcomes of this research provide valuable insights regarding the perceived competitive profile employed by the various institutions in South Africa. Information is provided to whether a typical South African approach can be detected regarding competing to attract national and international students. In order to determine the relative competitiveness of South African tertiary institutions the four categories of competitiveness were evaluated, namely product, institutional, strategic and tactical.
