Trends towards transformation of the system of higher education create the need for universities to adapt to the dynamically changing conditions of the external competitive environment. In this connection, university branding as a specific distinguishing characteristic from competitors is an integral part of the development strategy of a modern university, and the effectiveness of marketing activities to form a brand of an educational organization depends largely on the influence of internal and external factors and a set of tools applied. However, in the scientific literature, these aspects have come into common use mainly in relation to commercial organizations, giving short shrift to the institutions of higher education, which determines the goal setting of the study, which is to identify the main directions of the development of a university’s brand under present-day conditions of functioning. To achieve this goal, the authors used methods of synthesis, systematization, logical-structural, comparative and cause-and-effect analysis of the literature which highlights the theoretical and practical issues of university branding. The directions of brand formation identified as a result of the study are based on the method of an expert survey conducted in May 2021. Overall, the systematization of university branding factors has been carried out; a set of tools for creating a brand of a higher educational institution in the context of the transformation of the education system has been proposed; and the main directions for the development of the university brand from an expert survey have been identified.The authors have found that the most promising areas of university branding are corporate, educational and reputational aspects of activities.