Romanian education, which is an important pillar for human resource forming process and the basis for economic development, suffered a lot of changes in the last decades. The main factors that have influenced the undergraduate and university training programs are the political and social-cultural ones. Educational services organizations are facing various challenges as: creating and maintaining a good institutional image, managing all types of resources efficiently, motivating the academic personnel, satisfying the community needs and supporting the public policy. The marketing tools and activities help these entities to improve the educational programs and adapt them to the individual needs of the clients, to keep under control the production costs, which are limited by the small public budget and to perform and promote these services efficiently, leading to an increased organizational performance.

The paper begins by presenting the current situation of higher education in Romania, underlining the fierce competition among the universities, the increased market potential and the financing sources. It continues by mentioning the advantages of strategic marketing planning for universities, as superior results and effectiveness, improved decision making and multiple benefits for the people involved. The paper reveals also the characteristics of segmenting and positioning on higher education market and the specific of marketing mix. Thereby, educational product is more easily adapted to customer needs when it is designed in collaboration with existing and future students, their parents, with other universities in the field or even with graduates. Students themselves can contribute to the increase the quality of their education. Price may be a factor of choice when future student chooses to pursue a university course, especially in those situations where the price does not include only the payment of annual fees for education. Distribution takes into account school location, or method of providing educational services. The educational institution can achieve a corporate identity on the market through the undertaken promotional activities