One of the most significant events in the Russian system of higher education was the withdrawal from the Bologna Process, which raises the question of its way forward. The purpose of the article: To comprehend the dilemma “Soviet traditions - Bologna innovations” that has become relevant in connection with the exclusion of Russia from the Bologna Process. This dilemma is considered through the prism of the interrelated dichotomies identified by the authors (and constituting the scientific novelty of the article): Between the “deductive” (from the general to the particular, from theory to practice) logic of learning inherent in the German (Humboldtian) model (which became the basis of the Russian pre-revolutionary and Soviet education systems) and “inductive” (from the particular to the general, from practice to theory) logic of learning adopted in the Anglo-Saxon model of higher education (which became the basis of the Bologna process); between mono- and multi-level systems of higher education; between tradition and innovation; between the perception of education as a socially significant weal and as a service. In the course of the analysis, we come to the understanding that there is no such a model of education that could claim the status of a universal one. This understanding allows the authors to develop some recommendations: To provide universities with the opportunity to use the model that best suits them: the Soviet (or its fundamental principle - Humboldtian) model - for science-oriented universities, the Bologna model - for practice-oriented universities, or to let them adopt a hybrid model that combines the advantages of both models; to distribute responsibility for the quality of training between students, universities and employers; to institutionalize lifelong education (in the context of which higher education appears to be an important, but not the final stage of education).