The growing struggle of Russian universities for the best students and teachers, for resources and partnerships with large companies significantly actualizes issues related to the positioning of educational organizations, the construction of their identity, their uniqueness. However, this task in Russia is often posed far from the highest level of university management, which leads to insignificant use and a low degree of effectiveness of symbolic type elements. In addition, the focus on the promotion of symbols only in the external environment often contrasts with the weak desire of universities to use similar means within the university, including for combining all communication participants into a single team acting within the same goals (mission) of a higher educational institution.
For universities in the sphere of culture, elements of a symbolic type can be of particular importance, since they also allow satisfying aesthetic needs (the need to enjoy beauty, art, etc.) that are inherent in all participants in the educational process in such a specific educational organization.
The author believes that such an underestimation entails the poor development of the assessment system, which could objectively characterize the degree of influence on students of symbolic means available in an educational organization. The article describes an experimental model for assessing the impact on students of such funds, which has been tested in a higher educational institution. The study showed not only the degree of influence of individual symbols and traditions on students, expressed in numerical form and allowing comparison on the principle of more / less. The presented assessment model made it possible to see the problems of the educational organization requiring timely solutions.