The Finnish institutional autonomy reform 2010 pushed university leaders and academics to a juncture where they must navigate through new governance and management dynamics. Enabling the two types of players – foundation-run universities and universities under public law – to become more autonomous and competitive was one of the key elements of autonomy reform. Since 2010 the Finnish university reform has been evaluated three times. The latest national review in 2021 considered the current state of autonomy of universities in two types of universities. This article will use the author’s previous research on university leaders’ motives for autonomy and how their motives fit or confront the state of autonomy based on the national evaluations.