The article examines the changes in the higher education system associated with the coronavirus pandemic. The worsening of the epidemic situation has led to the closure or restriction of the work of many educational institutions in most countries of the world. To continue the educational process, teachers were forced to urgently introduce remote technologies. Modern computer technologies make it possible to receive higher education for a wide social stratum, including low-income and people with disabilities. The task of the state scale is to maintain and increase the volume of funding for higher education, technological support for universities to organize effective distance learning.