Geopolitical and geo-economic divisions of the world, the technological revolution of the twenty-first century, and the transformation of socio-economic relations within contemporary market capitalism led to a nomothetic approach to the role of humans as creative participants in the modern world. In this context, education serves as the nucleus of the sector where human creative potential is shaped. This research aims to utilize analytical methods to illustrate the transformational characteristics of Russian education and its role in the expanded reproduction of human potential, considering the changing quality of social relations. The authors define the transformational features of education in contemporary Russia against the backdrop of the acute phase of the current global crisis and socio-economic challenges. This approach allows the authors to identify complexities and contradictions in the established educational practices, leading to the conclusion about the expediency of revising its content. The authors demonstrate that education stands as a vital internal source of economic growth and a factor in long-term economic development. However, it is emphasized that education, as a social institution, does not fully meet the requirements for reproducing human potential on an expanded basis and does not align with the needs of the creative (innovative) economy of the twenty-first century, given the increasing external collisions and internal discrepancies. The perspective for successfully addressing the identified problems lies in reforming the education system by steering it towards a socially oriented model. The primary goal of education should be the creation of public goods aimed at reproducing human creative potential. The authors diagnose the main directions for reforming education to achieve the stated goal.