Abstract
There is analyzed the current trend in the after-school tracks of young people – the redistribution of demand from universities to colleges – separately according to the forms of higher education (HE) and the social characteristics of consumers. It is shown that the decline in admission to universities is due to distance learning and does not affect full-time one. Institutional changes in secondary and higher education (strengthening of hierarchy and selectivity, introduction of the USE) continue to lead to the social consolidation of two tracks: giving access through the USE to full-time HE education and opening the way - through the transit of secondary vocational education (SVE) – to distance learning. Demand is switching from HE to SVE for part of the youth the second track from HE programs and areas of study (mainly for the "old" service sector), which have lost the "social lift" function and profitability in the labor market in favor of current mass service professions, IT, etc., provided by SVE. At the same time, demand is changing in the direction of greater profitability of HE distance learning programs. In general, new features of social inequality in education are revealed.