The article examines potential demand for education credits. The authors consider the connection between the conditions of credit provision and the readiness of consumers to use the credit, the eff ects of sociodemographic characteristics of families are taken into account. It is shown that in the pre-crisis period, a majority of households did have a reasonably detailed idea of conditions of education credit provision and were ready to use these fi nancial service of Russian banks, if the need would arise. It is empirically proven that the relative uncommonness of education credits in that period had to do with the specifi cs of credit provision conditions.