Subject. Regional differences in the qualitative parameters of higher education graduates' integration into the labor market, the phenomenon of closed educational trajectories. Objectives. Identifying the institutional and structural factors that create the gap between young specialists' education and their income, and limit their social mobility. Methods. Comparative and spatial analysis, step-by-step breakdown of statistical data, ranking based on normalized employment figures and median salary. Results. It's been found that even as higher education becomes more widespread, persistent spatial differences remain, making access to quality and socially important educational paths uneven. Some areas have been identified where an institutional trap of working poverty has emerged. Groups of regions have been pinpointed where the education system hardly functions as a social elevator. Conclusions. Improving the effectiveness of graduate integration into the labor market requires developing sustainable models of collaboration between universities, industry, and regions, and implementing tools that allow predicting workforce needs while accounting for time lags. Addressing spatial imbalances involves aligning education policy with priorities linked to the economic transformation of territories.
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