The institute of higher education is one of the main social institutions in Russia. Professional and scientific potential of a society and economic development of a country in general largely depend on its effectiveness and ability to integrate into various social spheres. However, in present-day conditions Russian higher education is characterized by a number of contradictions that need to be resolved. The object of the article is transformation trends of higher education in Russia in the 21st century; its subject is a typological approach to analyzing these trends. The paper aims at studying methodology of the typological approach to higher education trends. In modern science there are many methodological approaches that can be applied to the study of processes and trends of higher education. The article highlights the systemic, institutional and community approaches. The author considers the necessity of adding a typological approach to the named above. To justify the significance of typological approach for the higher education analysis the definitions of “typology” and “type” are formulated. The study revealed the main trends of Russian higher education in the early 21st century that can be divided into two types: the trends dictated by the international conditions, global trends in the development of society as a whole and higher education in particular and the trends connected with Russian society realities. The typological analysis of higher education trends is shown to be complex, allowing us to characterize not only the current trends, problems and contradictions in the transformation of higher education, but also to identify possible prospects for this process.