Introduction. Training personnel for a  transforming and increasingly complex economy is  a challenge for the vocational education system. The indicators that would characterise the level of training of students are not many. Human capital is one of such indicators. The subject of the study is the amount of accumulated state investments in secondary vocational education per student by the time they graduate and enter the labour market (dynamics by year of graduation).

The aim of  the study is  to calculate the amount of  public investment per student under the secondary vocational education programme in the regions of the Russian Federation, both in  vocational educational organisations and higher education institutions for the entire period of student’s education, and to conduct a comparative analysis with similar foreign indicators. 

Methods. Mathematical methods were used to calculate the accumulated investment costs for the formation of the student’s human capital. 

Results. The results obtained allow us  to state that differences in  the amount of  accumulated investment in  the human capital of  students in  the vocational education depend not only on  territorial differences, but also on  different time periods. In most of the observed subjects, investments in 2016 graduates exceeded investments in 2020 graduates. In the observed period since 2016, investments in the human capital of  secondary vocational education students have generally been declining. Comparison of  accumulated investments in  graduates of  2018 in  Russia with those in foreign countries (the USA and Germany) in terms of purchasing power parity shows that domestic indicators are comparable to foreign ones. 

Scientific novelty. Two methods for calculating the accumulated state investment costs for forming human capital of  a secondary vocational education student are proposed and tested. A  technique was developed for collecting and processing primary statistical information necessary for calculations. 

Practical significance. The results of  the study can be  used for the development of federal and regional regulations in terms of improving the methods of calculating the standards for financing secondary vocational education programmes. 

Funding. The research was carried out with the financial support of  the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation within the state task “Theory and Methodology of the Formation of a Content Update System in the Framework of Teacher Training Under the Transformation of the Russian Economy” (fundamental research), No. 073- 00104-22-01.