The article examines the views of researchers on the client capital of a higher educational institution. The author formulated the following theses: client capital is one of the elements of the structure of intellectual capital, the share of which depends on the field of activity under consideration; client capital is a special type of intangible asset of an organization that affects its value; client capital itself is heterogeneous, structural elements can be distinguished in it; for a certain kind of organizations, an anchor element can be distinguished, which characterizes client capital; for higher education institutions, the anchor is student client capital. Six factors influencing the financial indicator of the university's client capital are identified: personnel; infrastructure, educational processes; the price of educational services; non-enrolled applicants; availability of budget places (students of the budget form of education); loyalty of existing students. The author's structure of the university's client capital is substantiated: the main student client capital, loyalty capital, applicant's capital. The article presents the author's methodology for assessing the value of the client capital of a higher educational institution. The cost of the client capital of the Novosibirsk State University of Economics and Management "NINH" was estimated in the context of the structure of client capital and training levels. Based on the financial indicator, the structure of educational program portfolios is presented: strategic, investment, conservative.