Competitive positions of universities in the regional higher education market

The current stage of higher education development is featured by a complex and dynamic environment, new threats associated with the coronavirus pandemic. These challenges dictate the need for universities to maintain firm competitive positions. Taking into account the peculiarities of the higher education and the subjective assessment of a number of factors, it is necessary to adapt the models of assessing the competitiveness of educational organizations to the specifics of the market. The purpose of the article is to modernize and test Porter's model of Five Competitive Forces for the education market system. The object of the study is the educational services market of the Sverdlovsk region. The most significant attention in the proposed model is paid to identifying and describing the features and structure of the five forces of competition. The authors propose to consider the power of internal and external consumers of university educational services as the power of customers, and the threat of online education and the creation of corporate universities of large companies as a threat from substitutes. The main attention of the authors is paid to an empirical study of the competitiveness of brands of universities in the Sverdlovsk region using the results of a survey of 177 graduates of the 11th grade of Yekaterinburg, conducted in 2020. The analysis of the applicants' motivation showed that the most important motives in choosing a university are the possibility of free education and the qualification of the teaching staff, further material benefits, such as fair wages and favorable employment. The most popular sources of information for applicants are the official website of the high school, as well as relatives, friends and acquaintances. As a result of the analysis, it is concluded that it is necessary to develop a marketing strategy to increase the competitive position, awareness and the level of public confidence of the university. The authors suggest universities to personalize relationships with students in order to increase loyalty to the university, use information technology to implement flexible programs of interaction with consumers of educational services.