The social modernization has provided the opportunity and is regarded as the prerequisite for the educational modernization. During the stage of China’s higher education stepping into popularization, in order to promote education modernization, we need to coordinate the resources of the nation, universities and society in accordance with the pace of the knowledge-based economy society. This paper probes into the concept of education modernization, comparing the performance of the foreign higher education modernization with that of Chinese higher education modernization. The paper also puts forward the proposal of promoting the optimization of the path for higher education modernization from the angle of improving college students’ leadership, such as making the top design, updating the concept of the education and upgrading the teaching content, applying modern education technology, enlarging the investment for education, promoting the democratization of education governance.