The relevance of the research is determined by the necessity to conceptualize the educational process at universities in new social and cultural conditions that are accompanied by challenges to Russian education. The development of programs and methodological materials outside the system of key theoretical directions has a risk of reducing the level of validity, compliance with the laws of modern education, consistency, and holistic vision. Purpose: based on the materials of the research group of the Center for Education and Personal Development of the Russian Academy of Education (RAO) under the guidance of Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor, RAO Academician N. L. Selivanova, within the framework of the state assignment on the development of the topic “Development of theoretical and methodological foundations for educational work in higher educational institutions in modern conditions”, the purpose of the research is to identify the main theoretical provisions that can be used in order to develop the concept of personal development and upbringing in educational institutions of higher education. Methods: analysis, generalization, conceptualization. Results: on the basis of the dynamics analysis of the development of regulatory bases for the educational practices at universities in recent decades, the article justifi es the necessity to develop a concept of personal development and upbringing; it presents understanding of the essence of conceptualization in education; it highlights the leading social and cultural challenges (unstable and unclear socio-cultural directions in modern education, the network environment and network subcultures, youth subcultures, the absence or instability of social and moral imperatives and rules among young people, gaps in intergenerational ties, a shortage of examples signifi cant for young people and signifi cant Others, hyper-individualization, communicative defi cits), the response to which sets the vectors of educational conceptualization at the university. The study also presents the basic constructs for the development of the concept of personal development and upbringing in educational institutions of higher education such as the common educational goal for all universities; the system-forming role of traditional values that are prioritized in the Russian Federation, integration of general and professional education, stimulation of self-education, self-activity, self-organization and self-government; subjectivity in the education of teachers, polysubjectivity of upbringing, etc. Practical significance: the highlighted constructs make it possible to determine the core of the projected educational concepts and to ensure the orientation of educational work at the university.