As is well known, the state of education predetermines to a large extent the dynamics and the direction of processes in the economy, in demography, policy, and other spheres of society. And yet, in today's Russia the attitude of bodies of ruling authority toward education is a bit strange. Evidence can be seen in statistical data: spending per college student is twenty times lower than in Finland, while the maintenance of one person in prison costs seven times more than educating one college student. The proportion of education that is on a tuition basis is rising steadily--as of late 2005 it was 61.8 percent of all state financing and 37.5 percent of the total amount of educational services. In just one year of operation of the Ministry of Education and Science the volume of educational services on a tuition basis more than tripled, from 11.8 to 37 billion rubles. The implementation of any important decision that lacks the support in public opinion is doomed to failure: if there is no reliable initial information there can be no effective administration. This article describes the results of a mass sociological survey of the population which was carried out in May and June 2006 in southern Tiumen oblast (not including the autonomous okrugs) to obtain that information. Statistical materials served as the basis for the study of the objective situation in the sphere of education. It appears in other oblast statistics that people employed in education and science are in the lowest positions in the rating of pay earned by various social and professional groups. This accounts for the fact that these spheres are not attractive to young people. Findings of the survey show that the overall conclusion remains unchanged: the system of information support for this national project has to be radically improved; it must be explained to people how the results of the project's implementation can change their lives for the better. This will require regular monitoring to discern people's problems and expectations in the sphere of education. On the basis of the information that is obtained it will be possible to adjust flexibly both the project itself, adapting its forms and mechanisms to accommodate specific conditions, and also the technologies by which the information is disseminated. (Contains 3 tables and 1 note.) [This article was translated by Kim Braithwaite.]