In recent decades, human capital has become a key element in the development of countries all over the world. The consumer demand for complex products and services (the reflection of human capital in the field of consumption) can enhance the increase in financial and economic indicators. Accordingly, education in the modern economy should not be considered as a field that requires high costs, but rather as an investment field that determines the scale of economic growth. Meanwhile, the policy of financial support of higher education in Russia is still largely focused not on the contribution to the economic and social development of the country, but the internal problems of the system, relying on the notion of education as a sphere of social obligations. In this regard, the transformation of conceptual approaches to the financial management of universities, involving the improvement of the methods used and the development of new methods and models, is of particular relevance. The study aims to develop the methods and models of university financial management given the modern conditions of financial support for educational institutions of higher education for the development of human capital. The research methods include a review of the scientific literature in this field, synthesis, and analysis of the information received, as well as comparison, formalization, and specification. The study identifies modern approaches to the financial management of Russian universities by assessing existing methods and models, as well as the specifics of financing universities in the current conditions of financial support for education. Given the concept of a university as a self-learning organization within the framework of the new paradigm of financial management and human capital development, a system model of financial decision making should be used.

Subject. The article considers methodological tools to assess the financial and economic performance of public investments in the program of academic leadership Priority 2030. Objectives. The aim is to assess the interdependence between the target indicators of effectiveness of development programs of universities participating in the Priority 2030 Project and the indicators of evaluating the financial and economic efficiency of their resource provision. Methods. The study employs expert and analytical methods and methods of informal analysis, reflecting analytical procedures at the logical level, which enabled to develop a system of indicators of the effectiveness of State support to universities participating in the Priority 2030 Program, and their criteria values. Results. Solving the task of increasing the international status of Russian universities, the State financial support for academic excellence programs should fit into regular mechanisms of per capita and program-targeted funding. The main result of this study is the integration of methodological techniques for evaluating the performance of university development programs with the system of indicators of effectiveness of State support to the Priority 2030 Project. Conclusions. The offered tools for measuring the financial and economic effectiveness of State support to development programs of universities should be used not only for generating the general parameters of public investment in the development of the most competitive domestic universities, but also for adjusting the volume and sources of funding for organizations of higher education in Russia.

Higher education institutions present key social institutions ensuring the creation and transfer of knowledge, intellectual capital, and innovations. This fact determines the significance of universities in state regulation and allocating financial resources to the best of them is becoming a crucial objective in many countries. Goals of the article is to study of the German Excellence Initiative project. The study identifies the characteristics of the Excellence Initiative project. A set of indicators of the project effectiveness is presented and the positive effects and problems of the project are indicated. Directions for the development of the European Universities’ project financing system are proposed. Project financing allowed changing the organizational structure of the German science system. However, it is necessary to continue the search for various cooperation formats and the ways for the development of gifted researchers in the scientific sphere, strengthen the universities’ prestige and infrastructure, and further improve the project financing models. Institutional strategies are aimed at strengthening the positions of a university overall allowing it to successfully compete with the leading participants in the international scientific arena. An institutional strategy requires a university to develop a long-term policy of consistent expansion and improvement of the quality of its research and promotion of young scientists and researchers allowing to identify the existing strengths and set priorities.

This paper represents the results of national and infrastructure project funding shortfalls study and determined implementation risks of such projects attributed to the Russian export market fluctuations, additional budget expenses in terms of the pandemic and upon the slowdown of macroeconomic indicators’ growth. In order to neutralize risks of national project implementation and cover requirements in infrastructure investments the study proposes the financial instruments of Public Private Partnership (PPP) institute, including instruments for update and development of project financial support mechanism providing the sustainable development of regional economy.

Forecasting changes in the external and internal parameters of the socio-economic development of higher education (HE) as an integral system, as well as the risks of its digitalization that reduce the quality of human capital suggest the expansion of contemporary methodological instruments for financing higher education institutions (HEIs). In the article the principles of project financing that combine system and process approaches have been suggested, and the need to introduce the axiological approach into the methodological basis of project financing of HE as a specific way of organizing and performing financial activities, obtaining and using its results with regard to certain values, and neutralizing the risks of digitalizing education along with improving the quality of human capital has been substantiated.