A key factor in modern economic growth is investment in people and in the development of human capital, as evidenced by the experience of many countries. Investments in human capital create conditions for sustainable economic growth, constant adaptation of the socio-economic structure to new areas of scientific and technological progress. In addition, investments in people form demand in many adjacent sectors, thereby causing a significant multiplier effect. Currently, the role of the state in this area is quite large. The role of the state is especially great in the most important spheres of the formation of human capital - in the field of education, health care and the allocation of research. © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).