The aim of the research is to study the ideas of parenthood among students of the Sverdlovsk region, as well as to identify associations about parenthood, interrelated with the assessment of its prestige in society. The research methodology is based on the institutional approach used in demography, as well as on approaches to the study of reproductive attitudes developed by the Russian school of family sociology. The results of the study demonstrate the hierarchy of associations of Ural students associated with parenthood, a fairly high assessment of the prestige of parenthood in Russian society, the relationship between the prestige of parenthood and the idea of it as a pleasure, investment in one's future, spiritual uplift and self-realization. Effective in the formation of parental attitudes of Ural students may be measures aimed at developing the idea of parenthood as a pleasure in life, which at the same time in the minds of young people is associated with the prestige of this activity in society. Unlike public organizations, the Russian higher education system is not yet an institution of support for the active pro-natalist policy implemented in the country. It is proposed to include a minor in educational programs aimed at developing students' parental competencies and a positive image of parenthood. The prospects of the research. We see the prospects in the further study of the possibilities and expediency of the implementation of family and demographic policy by universities in several directions at once: the development of university demographic policy, building information interaction with the parents of students, the development of parental competencies of students.