Research background: One of the areas that has undergone major changes in the processes of its activities and has had a strong impact on the change in social institutions is the field of education. The sharp transition to distance education and a number of technical, informational and human problems led to a significant complication of educational and other processes (scientific, innovative, entrepreneurial, etc.). Purpose of the article: The article raises the problem of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on global social and public institutions. The purpose of the article is to identify the factors of ensuring the competitiveness of universities, as the least protected by state support, in the context of forced digitalization against the background of the covid-19 pandemic. Methods: The paper uses mechanisms for assessing the competitiveness of universities in the new reality of the pandemic and its consequences, implemented on the basis of a modified McKinsey matrix and matrix algorithms for evaluating priority vectors. Findings & Value added: The analysis showed that the universities that have the greatest independence in the system face the greatest difficulties in carrying out their activities in the context of a pandemic. As scientific growth can be considered, the results of the analysis of the transition to distance learning processes that have combined higher education systems in different countries, and if earlier most universities competed at the regional or country level, now they are forced to enter into global competition with foreign universities.