Currently, the higher education system in Russia is in the midst of rapid changes associated with the fundamental problems of organizing the educational process during a pandemic. The pandemic of the new coronavirus infection COVID-19 in 2020 affected the educational system around the world, causing the massive closure of higher education institutions. Among the management practices of Russian universities related to the provision of security for students and staff, key decisions and recommendations based on a large-scale transition to the use of e-learning, distance learning technologies and the transition to a distance learning format, which has changed the usual way of life of university students and teachers. The objective of this research is to evaluate the transition of the educational process to distance education in the context of the pandemic, to identify the factors that hinder the development of learning. The research method is a questionnaire survey on distance learning using distance technologies in higher education. The results indicate that the development of a new model of education in universities can find resistance to external challenges and to a more productive way for economic and social development.