Introduction. The article deals with the implementation of effective programs for additional professional education of state civil servants, carried out in accordance with the list of priority areas for additional professional education of federal state civil servants, and also within the framework of the state order. The peculiarity of the implementation of such programs is the need to ensure compliance with the general list of training program themes approved by a specially authorized state body and to provide certain educational results through the application of the competence approach.Materials and methods. Practical materials are used for the implementation of additional professional education programs implemented at the MGIMO in 2012-2015 on the order of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation. The theoretical basis for the study is general scientific and special methods, such as the dialectical and formal-logical method, as well as comparative analysis and synthesis.Results of the study. Based on the analysis of applicable normative legal acts, as well as the experience of implementing specific educational programs, it is shown that one of the main approaches to their implementation is a competence approach that allows integrating the requirements to the level of qualification (competence) of a civil servant into the state training programs, implemented by the leading universities of the country. The use of the competence approach also allows coordinating the educational results of various types of training programs with the requirements of their initiators and employers.Discussion and conclusion. As a result of the analysis, it is concluded that there is a need for a systematic approach to the implementation of various types of supplementary professional education programs for federal state civil servants based on the creation of unified program descriptors as well as on lists of the competencies of civil servants, which makes it possible to coordinate the content of programs and requirements for their educational results.