The article considers the concept of «youth» and the specificity of the development of this age group within society and university. The author points out that the students of a faculty are a specific youth group, which needs to focus on their own development, as well as in need of support and acceptance by the group of peers and self-fulfillment in it. On this basis, one of the directions of pedagogical activity at a faculty is the creation of the students’ self-government, the center of which should become a student council as a strong organizational core.