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Intellectual capital approaches become critical at universities mainly due to the fact that knowledge is the main output as well as input in these institutions. Although some attempts to measure intellectual capital have been made so far, there is still a long way to go. The purpose of the present article is to provide a model for the measurement of intellectual capital in higher education institutions. The results of a study done at Spanish public universities are used to indicate which intangible elements need to be measured, and a new framework for the measurement and management of intellectual capital is presented.Points for practitioners: The main contribution of this article is the validation of the consensus on the key intangible elements and indicators that should comprise a university intellectual capital model. Our proposed intellectual capital model helps universities on the path to presenting information that is useful to their stakeholders, contributing to greater transparency, accountability and comparability in the higher education sector. This article offers useful and specific guidelines for intellectual capital reporting practice in universities. The creation of a framework of intellectual capital reporting facilitates benchmarking analysis and comparative studies in order to help decision-making processes, improve the articulation of public policies and increase transparency in the whole system.