In the context of the ongoing changes in the management systems of higher education, the issue of higher education institutions' (HEIs) relationships with external stakeholders are of key importance. This article discusses this problem from the perspective of Polish higher education system. The aim of it is to answer the following questions: (1) Who is perceived by HEIs as their external stakeholders?; and (2) What attributes are decisive in recognizing external stakeholders by HEIs? The discussion, as well as the presented empirical study draw on normative and descriptive aspects of the stakeholder theory. Special attention was paid to the model of identification and salience of stakeholders based on the attributes of power, legitimacy and urgency. In the light of the study, those in charge of Polish HEIs identify their stakeholders in many entities from their environment. However, it has been possible to isolate a smaller group of components that designate stakeholders, which can be used in mapping processes and in managing relationships with stakeholders. Relationships of HEIs with external stakeholders are mapped by the urgency of mutual relations, as well as legitimacy, the role of which results from legal, administrative, contractual, moral, and custom considerations.