This article discusses a special group of seven institutions of higher education (lycees and boarding schools for nobles), some of which were established at the very end of the 18^th century, but which especially flourished in the period around 1817-1820. They stood somewhat apart from the rest of the educational system in Russia, offering an alternative to university education specifically designed to appeal to the interests of nobles. Although the level of education at these schools did not quite match university standards, their graduates received the same privileges and ranks as university graduates when entering the state service. By the late 1820s the government noticed this contradiction, and in the 1830s most of these schools either closed or changes their status.