The article deals with topical issues of the state and formation of legal consciousness of the Russian student youth. The problems of research and formation of the legal consciousness of students is one of the acute and key problems of modern Russian society. The study of legal consciousness, its genesis and development, dramatic transformations is one of the most relevant areas in the modern Russian sociology of law. The task is to study the peculiarities of legal socialization of various socio-demographic groups in Russian society. The most important social group is the youth, since the success of the approval of the updated legal system of Russian society, the formation of a truly legal state in the conditions of the formation of a new institutional system of the state depends on the legal consciousness of the youth. The consolidation of institutional transformations requires a radical transformation of the legal consciousness of all members of society, the approval of the corresponding legal consciousness of the majority of Russian citizens, new legal values, legal values and attitudes, stable orientations to compliance with the law and lawful behavior.

The methodological basis of our research is the theories of Soviet and Russian jurists. To study the state of legal awareness of students, we conducted a mass sociological survey in October 2022. The object of the study is students of the city of Yekaterinburg aged from 18 to 25 years. The sample is proportional by gender and age.

The article analyzes theoretical studies of the legal consciousness of Russian sociologists and philosophers, presents the results of the author's sociological study of the state and content of the legal consciousness of students based on higher educational institutions of the city of Yekaterinburg. The need to overcome legal nihilism and increase legal literacy of young people is noted. This is especially important during the transformation of Russian society, which is characterized not only by positive processes, transformations of all spheres of socio-economic and political structure, but also by the spread of such phenomena as legal cynicism, nihilism and anomie, changes in value orientations and socio-psychological attitudes of young people, including students. Conclusions are formulated and ways and opportunities of improving the legal culture of students are identified.

Keywords: law, legal awareness, youth, legal culture, legal education, legal socialization