This study described the challenges of Philippine Higher Education Institutions in using the Philippine Quality Award (PQA) framework and identified opportunities for improvement as bases for action plans. The study delved into various dimensions, including senior leadership, governance, societal responsibilities, strategy development, strategy implementation, the voice of the customer, customer engagement, measurement, analysis, and improvement of organizational performance, knowledge management, information, and information technology, workforce environment, workforce engagement, work processes, operational effectiveness, product and process results, customer-focused results, workforce-focused results, leadership and governance results, and financial and market results. The study included 150 out of 177 (84.75%) senior leaders from private and public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) who had received Level 1 recognition of the Philippine Quality Award from 2005 to 2021. The researcher adopted the Philippine Quality Award (PQA) evaluation tool. The study revealed that most respondents are affiliated with private autonomous colleges operating for 40 to 50 years with notable achievements in quality assurance. Respondents face some challenges in Categories 3.1 - Voice of the Customer, 7.5 - Budgetary, Financial, and Market Results, and 5.2 - Workforce Engagement. Finally, to help HEIs improve at the PQA level, the researcher identified actionable insights through opportunities for improvements based on the findings and results of the study, which can serve as bases for action planning of educational institutions.