In the article the aspects of the researches of social activity of students are presented. The article reveals the relevance of the subject in terms of modern social and political situation, the priorities of education and the peculiarities of students’ age. The analysis of scientific literature has made it possible to mark the basic approaches to the term social activity, such as activity, attitude to life and personality. The characteristics of social activity are defined as social psychological readiness of a person to act, self-determinaton, involvement in social interactions, pro-sociality,etc. As social activity is not restricted to purely academic or professional activity, but also exists outside the educational institutes, it has become the aim of the researches to determine the social status, values and orientations as well as the personal qualities of socially active students of the technical university. The forty-two students of the machinery department, engineering and economy department and electrical engineering department took part in the researches. The main criterion of choice of potential participants of the researches was active participation in non-academic activity and voluntary organizations. As a result, the social-psycological portrait of the socially active student of technical university was formed. As a rule, it is a male, first-year or second-year student, having tendency to leadership, playing sports, taking part in cultural and leisure activity, as well as arts and voluntary organizations. He is mostly a good student. It is an extravert personality, emotional, creative, possessing leaders’ and communicative qualities, but with no high level of organizer’s faculties. The majority of them have an active position in life, independence, responsibility for themselves, and they consider their actions to be important factors in their progress. They are capable of achievingtheir goals in future, controlling their interactions with other people and to gain sympathy and respect at the same time. Their dominant values are universal, personal and social ones. The results of the researches will make it possible to find the most productive ways and forms of development of social activity of students of technical university in the future.