Reputation management is an important practice for contemporary highereducation institutions. In this article, the viewbooks of 9 Norwegian universitiesand university colleges are analyzed. We find that higher educationinstitutions often communicate a complex, diverse and sometimes evencontradictory profile towards prospective students. Further, we find manysimilarities between the different viewbooks, and a limited degree of sharpdistinctions towards competitors. This is not in line with the dominatingrecommendations of the management literature on the topic, claiming thata strong reputation is built through consistent communication and differentiationvis-à-vis competitors. We ask if the findings signalize an institutionalizationof the image of which characteristics a “good higher educationinstitutions” must possess, limiting the space for reputation building througha more singular and distinct profile. Higher education institutions must payattention to diverse (and often conflicting) goals and values in their reputationmanagement, and incorporate them simultaneously in their communicationto achieve legitimacy.