The article substantiates the priority tasks of reforming the system of higher education in Ukraine. The current state of higher professional education and its tasks are defined; the principles of modern European education are highlighted. Moreover, the components and functions of the organization of the educational process in higher education institutions are identified. The emphasis is placed on the development of pedagogical workers’ professional and pedagogical excellence, the raise of the level of their readiness to use personal development and information and communication technologies, electronic learning tools, information and analytical systems for managing the development of vocational education and students’ training. The recommendations of the European Higher Education Area regarding the development of higher education in the EU countries are substantiated. The author stresses that today one of the main principles of modern European education, which is responsible for the qualitative aspect of training and acquisition of professional competencies, is the mobility of students and teachers. It is noted that the influence of integration processes and the growing role of globalization cause the need to use the international educational standards in the field of education. The influence of reforming the system of higher education onto the creation of favorable conditions for the professional growth of a future specialist is substantiated. Over the last years the improving of the higher education quality have occupied the dominating place in the issues of ensuring the competitiveness of Ukraine’s educational system and training a personnel of a particullar qualification. The author also noted that the influence of integration processes, the growing role of globalization сause the need to use the international educational standards in the field of education. The impact of the higher education system reforming onto the creating of favorable conditions for the development of a person throughout its life, in particular, its professional growth, is theoretically grounded as the key to the development of national intellectual potential. The growing requirements for the quality of training specialists in proffesional education require further theoretical and practical development of the improvement of the system of higher professional education of Ukraine, its recognition in the European and world space, which will be an important step on the way to the professionalism of modern specialists.