The correct management of intangible assets such as image and legitimacy can be crucial for the survival and success of organizations given the current competitive landscape. These variables have been analysed in the literature due to their importance, however additional research is still needed in order to clarify the way they relate. Spanish public universities operate in a complex environment, competing for economic resources from the government as well as for talented students, prestigious professors and competent employees at national and international levels. The aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship between image and legitimacy in the higher education context. For this purpose, a review on the literature regarding image and legitimacy will be carried out, followed by the analysis of the results obtained through a survey distribution to a variety of universities’ stakeholders (students, professors, administrative personnel, alumni and managers). To treat the data PLS SEM was used. The results confirm the proposed hypothesis on the influence that image has on legitimacy.