This article describes the use of benchmarking in universities in the Czech Republic and academics' experiences with it. It is based on research conducted among academics from economics schools in Czech public and private universities. The results identified several issues regarding the utilisation and understanding of benchmarking in the Czech educational environment. The survey results have also been compared with existing theories regarding the use of benchmarking in higher education as well as with the research results of other authors. Recommendations for public policy are based on an econometric analysis of global benchmarking initiatives.