The article introduces an overview of matching theory and proposes practical steps to match universities to improve quality. Benchmarking is a diagnostic and self-improvement tool that provides universities with external references and best practices on which to base the evaluation and design of their work processes. The process of practicing effective university matching includes 6 basic steps: decision making and planning, choosing a matching university, collecting data, informing and reporting, developing an action plan, monitoring and following action plans, learning and iterating, and paying attention to recommended benchmarking success factors and the requirements of prescribed quality assessment standards