This work centers on the study of the image of universities, with the aims of explaining the process of image forming by means of its different components, both in its cognitive and affective dimensions and of analyzing its relationship with the students’ satisfaction with the university. The results of the empirical work carried out on a representative sample of 6,775 students studying at a Spanish university demonstrate that the cognitive component of image is an antecedent of the affective component. In turn, both of those components influence the forming of the overall image of the university and the cognitive, affective and overall images statistically and significantly influence the students’ satisfaction with the university.