A question that often arises in expert discussions on how to combine the aspirations of universities for international competitiveness, and the development of partnerships with enterprises that need specific employees and developments.The hypothesis of our research is that there are options for strategies which can lead to achievement both of the above goals. The research is devoted to the practices of two universities (Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin (UrFU) and the National Research Technological University "MISiS"), participants of the "5-100" project, in which, as the four stages of the Competitiveness Improvement Program are implemented (hereinafter PPK), there was a strengthening of global positions, as well as the development of cooperation with industry. This development is reflected in the texts of the roadmaps (hereinafter referred to as the DC), the dynamics of absolute and specific indicators, and the variety of forms of such interaction, including marketing strategies and strategic initiatives.To study this issue, a historical comparative content analysis of the changes in the DC of two universities was carried out, with an emphasis on the dynamics of changes in target models, especially the nature of reference groups and the practice of interacting with enterprises. Given the possibility of comparison, four elements of the university’s target model were selected for analysis: reference groups, missions, marketing strategies in key markets, changes in the composition of key initiatives.