This paper explores the social role of tertiary education institutions in post-Soviet single-industry towns, where local development hinges on specific industries. The research methodology involved studying the perceptions of the dynamics of education-industry cooperation and student educational trajectories and educational choice. The data, collected during a field trip to five single-industry towns of the Ural region, comprise interviews with tertiary education institutions faculty, industry representatives, and students. Sixty interviews supplemented with official documents were analysed with the help of grounded theory and discourse analysis. Three main tertiary education models were identified: a multi-campus university, a private engineering university, and an educational centre at an industrial company. Such institutions offer vocational and higher education and professional development programmes, while industry makes a crucial contribution to their strategical management, curriculum, and infrastructure. Students explained their educational trajectories by the cultural narratives of 'reliability and care', 'organised leisure', 'family legacy', and 'duty and predestination'. Tertiary education in these towns supports local development by supplying skilled labour and retaining young people, but it can also limit their opportunities and blur the lines between vocational and higher education.