Price and quality are two of the most important elements of higher education marketing. It is widely accepted that quality is an attribute that enhances attractiveness for all goods and services. However, the influence of price on attractiveness is controversial. The aim of this paper is to examine the mediating role of price in the relationship between quality and academic attractiveness in higher education. The population of the research was determined as the first 30 countries hosting the most international students in the world and all countries were included in the sample. Secondary data were used to test the theoretical model, and the data analyzed by structural equation modeling that enabled to test the relations between more than two variables at the same time. Results show that quality has a very strong influence on academic attractiveness and a strong impact on price. However, price has no significant influence on academic attractiveness. Based on these results, it can be concluded that the price is an indicator of quality in the higher education sector, as in other sectors, but the high price does not reduce academic attractiveness of countries. Therefore, countries aiming to develop their share in the international higher education market are advised to determine prices according to where they want to position themselves in the context of quality.