The article considers the main tendences of the development of public-private partnership in the education sector through the prism of historical retrospect. Based on the analysis of the historiography of the problem and current research viewpoints on studying the problem of establishing and development of public-private partnerships in the education sector, the researchers have formulated their own approach to the problem of public-private partnership in the education sector, both from the point of view of the historical retrospect and the contemporary socio-economic space of Russia. Historical excursus allows to define the key milestones in the genesis and the development of various forms of cooperation between the state, business and education. The conclusions of the authors allow to define the main tendences and characteristic features of public-private partnership in the education sector.