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Ranking universities has become increasingly significant since 2003, when the first ranking of the most successful universities, the Academic Ranking of World Universities – ARWU (or Shanghai Ranking), was published. The ARWU propelled other rankings of world universities. In 2019, only two countries from Southeast Europe were represented in the Shanghai Ranking. Universities from Serbia and Croatia were ranked in the Shanghai Ranking, while the other countries of Southeast Europe were not listed. Slovenia had a university ranked in the 2018 list, but remains unrepresented in 2019. A considerable range of the criteria (60%) used in this ranking is based on data collected using scientometrics, which is obviously insufficient and inappropriate for the countries of Southeast Europe. Therefore, one of the possibilities of coping with the problem is developing a reliable methodology for ranking universities from these countries with the aim of increasing their quality and improving their position on the global lists. This paper attempts to propose a new methodology and criteria applicable in these countries in order to eliminate the problems that appear in global rankings. The proposed methodology, which was made on the basis of the Shanghai List, would lead to an increase in the quality of studies in Southeast Europe, primarily through competition between these universities. The methodology has been formed in such a way that it prevents favouring any institution, regardless of the country it comes from and the ownership structure. Ranking would contribute to raising the quality and improving the position on all lists at the global level, thereby it would help private faculties and universities to take their place in the educational space of Southeast Europe and facilitate the role of their establishment as primarily transferring knowledge, competencies and skills, instead of providing financial benefits to their owners. © 2021, FACTEACHEREDUCATION. All rights reserved.