Objective - The context strategy as process and strategy as content have significant impact to the correlation between strategy and management accounting (Muktiyanto, 2016; Parnell, 2010). In the context strategy as process, this paper aims to investigate the role of management accounting to performance through the choice of strategy.

Methodology/Technique - The method by structural equation modeling on 70 (seventy) of undergraduate Accounting Study Program (composition: 70% Private Universities and 30% Public Universities). Opposite with Henry (2006) and Widener (2007) and support with Speklé and Verbeeten (2014) and Acquaah (2013).

Findings - This paper shown that the accounting management directly influence the performance, but not mediated by strategy. The practice of budgetary slack, the implementation of modern accounting such as activity-based costing and target costing, the use of performance measurement techniques such as the balanced scorecard, measurements based performance, and the economic value added, as well as integrated information system is an important factor in improving the performance of Higher Education. Unfortunately, the choice of strategy moderate or "stuck in the middle" has not been able to improve the performance of Higher Education directly nor as a mediating between management accounting and performance. However, in the context strategy as process, management accounting have positive influence to the strategic choice.

Novelty - The effort of Higher Education to improve the performance is choose a single strategy or focus on the prospector's strategy.

Type of Paper: Empirical

Keywords: Management Accounting, Strategy, Performance, Indonesia.

JEL Classification: M40, M41