Change is the essence of our life. Those who do not take it into account, do not adapt their strategies are doomed. Universities at the time of its inception were recognized as agents of change, regardless of when they were active. Today, universities compete with each other for the quality of service provided. At the same time, there is still no consensus on the best way to assess and manage the quality in higher education institutions. This article discusses some models of quality assessment in higher education based on customer orientation and stakeholder satisfaction. In particular, we focus on the presentation of the model of excellence, coordinated by the European Foundation for Quality Management - EFQM, used for the systematic measurement of quality in the higher education sector. In addition to reviewing the main discussions regarding it in the literature, the authors conducted research on the application of the EFQM model at the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova. This article partially presents the results of the research conducted.