The article explores the peculiarities of university ethics in the context of the transformation of modern higher education. The research revealed that the "ethical codes" existing in most Russian universities are formal and remain practically unused (the situation in SPbU is an exception). The analysis of the key moments of the transformation of the ethical principles of the "classical university" has been carried out. It is shown that as a result of the appearance of a commercial "social order" for universities and the use of information technologies in education, the position of the teacher in the university structure changes radically. The teacher is in the position of social alienation, which was described by K. Marx. As the main ethical problem, there is a need to change university ethics and form the ethics of a university teacher, which takes into account changed social demands.