The steady tendencies toward the decline in the size of Russia's population in the twenty-first century, owing to the effect of global political, social, and economic factors, are giving rise to a number of fundamental problems that have to do with the erosion of the conditions that are essential not only for the stable development of society, but also for the preservation of the state itself within its established borders. The processes of depopulation in the next few years are going to have their largest impact on the economically active population of Russia, and it will cast doubt on the chances of ensuring a high rate of economic and social development of Russia's society, inasmuch as the elasticity of GDP, in terms of labor, is about 20-30 percent. Over the long term, solving the problems of the demographic development of Russia must entail raising birth rates and reducing mortality rates. However, Russia's problems on its demographic development can be solved through increasing the quality of its human capital. In this article, the author discusses how increasing the quality of the Russian higher education can offer a solution to the problems concerning its demographic development. The author also analyzes the indicators of the system of higher education in Russia. (Contains 2 tables.)