This article emphasizes the regional development in today's Russia and focuses on the current state of the system of higher education. The concept of elite professional education is used as a means of social mobility and an instrument for the formation of the social structure of a particular region. What prompted this approach was an analysis of phenomena and processes such as the worsening of the demographic situation in the country and the reaction to it by the federal-level administration, the slow pace of innovative development of the territories, the weak growth of small and medium-sized business, and, as a consequence, the absence of visible signs of the expansion of the middle class, and the slow pace of formation of the institutions of a civil society. The author argues that the level of regional development in Russia needs to be significantly improved, including the creation of local elites that are active in areas that are crucial for the growth of the economy. Training, retaining, and attracting people who can fill these positions can be achieved if the regional systems of higher education dedicate themselves seriously to this task. (Contains 3 notes.)