In HE research, which was launched in the 1960s, the first outcome comparisons among institutions sought for the criteria of the excellence of universities and colleges. A remarkable - and still influential - contribution to the project was the creation of the expanded notion of student outcome (Astin 1993), which threw new light on the achievements of both students and institutions. Another essential step forward was a new concept of institutional outcome that took into account the makeup of the entering student population and their attributes at entrance. Realising the importance of student (self-)selection and the institutions' individual impact mechanisms, it was created the IEO (Input-Environment-Output) model of the impact of HE institutions, which gives a comprehensive model of students' characteristics at entrance, the impacts of the environment and student outcomes (Astin 1993). With this, he has made a remarkable contribution to the research of added value in HE (Klein et al. 2005, Banta–Pike 2007, Rodgers 2007). The concept and methodology of that research are becoming subtler all the time, but it is no agreement in indicators of student achievement. In our previous research we emphasized the necessity of a broader interpretation of student outcome in tertiary education, which is undergoing a transformation and adjusting itself to the school system. Factors to be considered are the changes in students’ knowledge, skills, value preferences and attitudes to study and work. We found the so called internal indicators of student outcome within the world of higher education. Indicators of success are successful entrance to various stages of higher education in accordance with one’s career plans, persistence, (fulfilled) aspiration to move one stage forward, exam result averages (taken individually or in comparison to others), advancement (presupposing input and output measurement), and even commitment to one’s studies and doing one’s work in compliance with academic norms (Pascarella-Terenzini 2005, Tinto 2006, Koucky et al 2010). According to our previous research it is not possible to measure the efficiency of higher educational institutions located in peripheral areas through the direct success of their graduates in the labour market. If the so-called „third mission of higher education” is to be taken seriously, more reliable efficiency indicators must be found. In the course of our research we came to the conclusion that it is now inevitable for higher education to develop and implement its own efficiency indicators that are independent of the transitory and temporary processes going on in the economic environment. The indicators should take into account long-term effects and added educational values, regardless of the specific subject major the student has graduated in. As part of our research program, we studied several models described in the related literature and drafted an apparently well-functioning model that meets the requirements set up preliminarily (Pusztai 2011, Pusztai et al. 2012). As we seek a more precise explanation for the students' achievement differences we examined the direct effect of institutional integration on academic career. The individual's academic career is decisively influenced by the student community living together in the various institutional units with their views on the purpose of studies, the norms to adhere to during one's studies, non-obligatory activities and the circle of reliable persons (Pusztai 2014).

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