The transition from a Slavic-Greek-Latin school to a collegium was an important stage in the development of secular and ecclesiastic education in Russia. Basing on archive documents, the author investigates the structural evolution of the new model of an educational institution, which was extremely important for the Russian 18th century culture from the political point of view. The author analyzes the organization, particularities of funding, and curricula of the Kharkov collegium.