For the first time in Russian science, a monographic study of the sociology of higher education as a branch of sociological knowledge is carried out. The methodological section discusses the features and structure of sociological knowledge, the place in it of sociology of higher education. The object and subject of sociology of higher education, its structure and functions are analyzed. The characteristic of scientific branch and methodological approaches of sociology of higher school is given. The next, second section examines the history of the formation and current state of sociology of higher education. Its historical, socio-economic and scientific prerequisites are described. The article shows the formation and development of foreign and Russian sociology of higher education in the second half of the XX – early XXI century. The third section is devoted to the analysis of special sociological theories and educational practices of higher education. The content of the theories of nonlinear higher education, trust in higher education, interaction of universities and cities, university educational communities, «silver» higher education is revealed. Among the educational practices considered in the mirror of sociology are social experiment in higher education, problems of management and bureaucratization in higher education, preservation and development of students’ human capital. The «Conclusion» shows the prospects of sociology of higher education. For researchers of higher education, university teachers, university managers and specialists, graduate students, students, all interested in the problems of higher education and its sociological analysis.