Purpose: In today's complex and highly competitive marketplace, universities and colleges, realizing a need to develop sustainable strategies, have turned to branding as a solution. However, because of their unique service characteristics, universities' branding attempts may not always result in success. The aim of this paper is to present a brand ecosystem framework in order to develop branding strategies for colleges and universities. Design/methodology/approach: The key elements of the framework include: student experiences as the driving force of the university branding strategies, academic services as the core value creation activities in delivering student learning experiences that are co-created with students and faculty, and supporting activities that are important in creating the core value. Findings: The framework suggests that both core and supporting value-creating activities are dynamically inter-related and work jointly in creating student learning experiences, and ultimately, a strong university brand. Originality/value: The paper presents the crucial elements and the relationships among them for building successful brands in higher education. (Contains 1 figure.)