The article reveals the content and operationalization of the concept of “sensitivity to social problems” in the solution of urgent problem situations of modern reality by university students. The authors have made an attempt to describe empirically the criteria and indicators of sensitivity to social problems in modern youth and justify the relevance of studying this phenomenon in connection with the modernization of higher education system and the need for criterion assessment of competencies that determine the readiness of students to conduct professional activities. In this regard, the content of the article considers full-time and distance learning formats as an opportunity to optimize the learning process in the conditions of modern education and as an effective condition for the formation of the university student as a subject of learning.