The present study examines the performance of higher education institutions in the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman sultans paid special attention to education and the establishment of universities and established institutions to help society. However, these institutions could not contribute to the country's progress like their Western counterparts. Ottoman higher education institutions were modeled after the West, but faced many challenges due to inappropriate conditions. This study examines the performance of these institutions and the way they attracted students using a historical descriptive-analytical method. The findings show that the establishment of universities required the development of primary and secondary schools to prepare students; something that was ignored at that time. Therefore, Ottoman higher education institutions were more like secondary schools than real universities. The main question of the study is what was the purpose of establishing higher education institutions in the Ottoman Empire and what obstacles and problems existed in the path to achieving this goal?