The article provides an overview of international and Ukrainian legal acts related to the digital transformation of higher education, which is not limited to and not determined by the introduction of digital technologies into the activities of the university, it involves much deeper changes, namely the formation of a new model of university functioning and activity. The advantages of digital transformation are the creation of opportunities for cooperation, the expansion of service provision and changes in approaches to work, individual and group educational needs, which require the creation of a university ecosystem based on the worldview and methodological principles of openness and continuity of the learning process. The analysis of the ideas of digital transformation and the design of the university ecosystem is based on the research of leading scientists of the world and Ukraine. The authors offer a list of functioning ecosystems that are directly or indirectly related to university education, their features and strengths are indicated. The prerequisites for the creation of the Grinchenko University ecosystem in the conditions of digital transformation are also presented, and the basis for its construction is assessed.