Abstract Total quality management (TQM) in higher education is a new management philosophy that leads universities based on the needs of students and the surrounding community. Aim: To identify obstacles of implementing TQM in higher education institutions from academic staff perspective. Design: A descriptive explorative research design was used. Setting: This study was conducted in Nursing, Engineering, Art and commerce Faculties at South Valley University (SVU). Subjects: A convenience sample of (160) academic staff was included. Tools: Self-administrated questionnaire was used for data collection. Results: It showed that the high mean score of TQM application obstacles was related to financial resources, while low mean score was related to top management (20.44±3.753m 17.54± 4.713) respectively. There were statistically significant differences between TQM application obstacles and personal characteristics of participants and between obstacles and application of TQM. Conclusion: The application of TQM in higher education institutions will only be accomplished by providing of supportive infrastructure for change and development of qualified human resources, material, technical infrastructures and update resources for education and learning and all educational institutions and its components should have a genuine desire to work and implement the standards that can represent a permanent plan. Recommendations: Policy maker at SVU must use strategic long term planning and effective policy for services quality; provide training courses and workshops in the field of TQM application.