International branch campus is a rather new phenomenon in higher education and it is often questioned if it is an effective tool for HEI competitiveness because of its high risks and extremely high costs. In order for higher education institution managers to be able to use an international branch campus (IBC) as a tool for competitiveness, indicators of IBC having the strongest influence on the competitiveness of HEI must be indicated. In order to determine the main key performance indicators semi structured interviews were executed with the top managers of international branch campuses globally and the gathered data was analysed and coded using the computer assisted qualitative data analysis (CAQDAS) with Nvivo software. Six most important key performance indicators of IBCs have been identified and the FARE (Factor Relationship) method was used in order to determine the weights of the latter criteria. A system of indicators has been developed to assess the impact of HEI international development on the university's competitiveness and a relationship between the key performance indicators of the IBCs and the university's competitiveness has been revealed.