Analysis of the features of the development of university ideas and models of its implementation in the Russian Empire in the XVIII - first half of the XIX century is an actual direction of research on the formation of higher education. Based on the analysis of legislative acts and representative sources, the transformations carried out concerning to higher education and their consequences were identified, which led to the transformation of the university system and the formation of the academic corporation of Russian professors. The question of studying the Russian model of University education occupies an important place in the framework of modern works in the field of intellectual history. The main research field of this article is the analysis of the most significant projects and reforms of the Russian higher school in the XVIII - first half of the XIX century and the definition of the main characteristics of the University idea on the Russian soil. Projects and reforms of the Russian higher school are considered in the socio-political context. The central problem for the article is the problem of adaptation of the University idea in the Russian cultural and educational space. The study identified the features of the «Russian» University model and made reasoned assumptions about the role of the state in the history of higher education.