This survey was intended to combat bureaucratic and criminal malfeasance in the system of higher education. Experts in seven federal districts in Russia were asked to determine the attitudes of the population toward higher education reforms in the past two years. Survey data show that Russians are generally not in favor of many of the changes in Russian higher education in recent years, including changes aimed at modernizing universities and bringing them more in line with universities in Europe. The findings can serve as an important guide for optimizing social administration and stabilizing the country's public, national, and state development, and for protecting higher education and enhancing its rising role in dealing with the economic, political, and social security of the individual, society, and the state. (Contains 1 note.)