The correct choice of key performance indicators (KPI) is an essential part of the university’s quality management system. As universities are being evaluated from different external organizations there is a need to synchronize the set of performance indicators for the university quality system. The aim of this research is to analyze the performance indicators from theoretical and international university rankings perspective, and to identify performance indicators that measure university sustainable governance. Design/methodology/approach– Literature review and qualitative content analysis with open coding were used to identify the indicators from scientific research papers and analysis of performance indicators from methodologies of university rankings was done. Findings– The finding include the identified sets of indicators with adapted weights for universities with different focuses. Furthermore, the research paper identifies the linkages between different sets of indicators. Research limitations/implications- In the analysis of university rankings only three rankings were included - Academic Ranking of World Universities, Times Higher Education University Ranking, QS University Ranking. Practical implications- The sets of indicators can be used for analyzing and benchmarking different university quality management systems. Originality/value (Mandatory)- Identified set of performance indicators for evaluating the sustainability of university quality management system and overall university sustainable governance. The indicators were compared with indicators of the three most known university rankings – ARWU ranking, QS WUR and THE WUR.