Scope 3 emissions entail the highest potential for emission reduction but are also considered to be the most challenging emission Scope to quantify. While the regulatory requirements across many countries are mandating the Scope 3 emission disclosure for organisations, the institutional readiness is still not up to the expected levels.  Specifically, the service supply chains face multiple challenges in quantifying and disclosing Scope 3 emissions. Higher education institutes (HEIs) play a pivotal role in driving societal change towards sustainability. Hence, HEIs are expected to act as stewards in comprehensive Scope 3 emission quantification and disclosure. Through a systematic review of the literature, it was identified that the challenges faced by HEIs in their attempts to measure and report Scope 3 emissions can be divided into 4 main categories: data collection and methodological challenges, operational and resource capacity constraints, behavioural and awareness limitations and complexity of the supply chain. Also, we have conducted 10 interviews with key internal stakeholders of the HEI supply chain and using thematic analysis, we identified that the institutional mechanisms and contextual factors play a pivotal role when developing a strategic framework for standardising Scope 3 emission reporting in HEIs. Further, the key 3 elements that drive Scope 3 emission disclosure were identified as people and culture, governance, and resources and infrastructure. The importance of this study lies in developing a strategic framework for standardising Scope 3 emission reporting that streamlines the reporting procedure and improves comparability and benchmarking of HEI sustainability attempts.