Organizational and technological changes taking place against the background of a change in the technological structure have a profoundly transformative effect on the entire spectrum of economic relations, including their socio-labor component; accelerate the processes of restructuring the labor market; set the need to adapt existing public institutions to work in new conditions. Analyzing the dynamics and directions of the development of higher education as a key subject of the system of vocational training, the author turns to the study of the phenomenon of international university rankings, which act as the subject of this study. The relevance of the chosen research perspective is explained by a number of reasons: in just a few decades since its inception, the ratings have successfully integrated into the educational systems of various countries and have found their own niche in this field. The expert community has confirmed the opinion that the entry of universities into international rankings provides countries with opportunities for the formation of world-class labor resources. All this, on the one hand, allows us to consider rankings as a full-fledged subject of the modern system of vocational education. On the other hand, the attitude to rankings as a socio-economic and, partly, cultural phenomenon, both in the public and in the expert environment remains ambiguous. Researchers pay attention to serious flaws in ranking projects, imbalances introduced by participation in rating "competitions" for individual countries and economic systems. The aim of the paper is to study the impact of international university rankings on the state and prospects for the development of university education as the basis of the current system of professional training. The article analyzes the reasons and prerequisites for the emergence of higher education rating practices. The strengths and weaknesses of the most popular rating projects are evaluated. Particular attention is paid to the study of the practices of participation of the national system of vocational education in rating projects. In this context, the author identifies two areas of development: the creation and promotion of their own rating projects in the global market of educational services, as well as initiatives related to the inclusion of rating projects in national development programs. The author comes to the conclusions about a certain reassessment of priorities in the development of modern university rankings, outlines the further development of the rating movement in the field of education. The methodological basis of the study was institutional, systemic approaches and methods, means of content and comparative theoretical analysis. The results of the study expand the understanding of the phenomenon of international university rankings, which can be used when forming the social policy of the state, programs for the development of higher professional education, as well as for the purposes of harmonizing relations between the labor market and the educational services market.