Summary. The article is devoted to socio-economic competence formation of future specialists of the penitentiary system. It is determined that the educational process in higher education institutions with specific learning conditions is formed as a system of organizational and pedagogical measures, which gives the opportunity to acquire knowledge and skills of cadets in the social, humanitarian, economic, professional and military spheres and includes procedural and activity, cognitive, information and communication, and value components. It has been found that the formation of socio-economic competencies of future specialists of the penitentiary system is being formed in stages. In the first stage, the cognitive component of competence develops, in the second - the development of the motivational component, and in the third - axiological component is formed, which allows to assess the level of formation of all components and the willingness to apply knowledge, skills, experience in practice in real situations.Introduction. Social life requires changes that are driven by European and global integration processes, which foresee the involvement of professionals into the newest knowledge and skills and the formation of qualitatively new competencies of specialists in all fields. Such processes are specific, namely, there is a need to position economic knowledge as one that becomes essential and relevant for a person who wants to be successful and relevant in such a society. Accordingly, given the challenges of today and in the context of training profiling, the question arises of the acquisition by students of knowledge and skills that are to guarantee individuals competitiveness in the labor market. Primary among such knowledge and skills are those, which in modern scientific achievements in the field of pedagogy are defined as "socio-economic competence"Recently, the person-centered model of training of specialists, according to which the accents change: from the content of training to the result, namely, what competences, knowledge the person possesses and what he / she can do, becomes especially relevant. In the defined illustrated model as "competent" of its foundation is not content knowledge, but procedural, content becomes not the goal, but a means. This formulation of the problem, as well as the fact that the labor market requires a modern educated person to be competitive, should be summarized that, in today's eco-centric society, socio-economic preparedness is an integral part of professional competences, the success of which in career development depends on graduates from departmental institutions of higher education and the competitiveness and compliance of Ukraine with European standards, since almost one hundred percent of graduates go to work in the public sector.Purpose. Considering the increase of competitiveness in the present conditions, when socio-economic competencies occupy an important place among the professional competences formed by a specialist. Given that the teaching of socioeconomic cycle disciplines in higher education institutions with specific training conditions do not belong to the cycle of vocational training, the process of formation of socioeconomic competencies in cadets during their professional training in higher military educational institutions is extremely relevant. Therefore, the purpose of scientific research is to investigate the problem of socio-economic competencies formation of future specialists of the penitentiary system.Methods. The system of general scientific and special methods of theoretical and empirical research (analysis of scientific literature, systematization and generalization of materials, logic and comparative, content analysis) was used in order to realize the article purpose.Result. The process of socio-economic competence formation is a multi-level systematic process that includes process, activity, cognitive, information-communicative and value components and consists of economic literacy, consciousness, thinking, outlook, social responsibility and behavior.Originality. The differences between the definition of competence and competency have been clarified. It is determined that the formation of socio-economic competence implies a basic, integral characterization of the personal qualities of the cadet, which provides an effective and well-grounded team activity in the criminal-enforcement system in accordance with the legal and moral standards adopted in modern society. Formed socio-economic competence implies the presence of organizational skills, the ability to collaborate, the ability to adapt and perform different roles and functions in the team, the ability to analyze and predict performance, as well as professional mobilityConclusion. Socio-economic competence is one of the most important in the context of the development of a consumer society. Therefore, its formation is a prerequisite for the development of the personality of future specialists in the penitentiary system. It is a significant addition and one of the basic components of the professional competencies of these specialists. The process of formation of socio-economic competence is a multilevel systematic process that includes process, activity, cognitive, information-communicative and value component and consists of economic literacy, consciousness, thinking, outlook, social responsibility and behavior.Knowledge, skills, experience, ability to mobilize knowledge in making rational and socially responsible management decisions are the characteristics that make up the systems of components of this competence. The dialectical interrelation of practical skills and the ability to apply them in specific practical conditions adapted to the real situation of an eco-centered society are the main peculiarities of socio-economic competence.Training technologies play a special role in shaping the socio-economic competence of future penitentiary officers. During their implementation, the combination of game forms with the solution of practical socio-economic situations allows to build in the minds of those who are learning the ability to make competent choices of different options and determination of socio-economic events.The conducted research does not reveal all aspects of the problem of formation of socio-economic competence of the specialists of the penitentiary service. Further scientific research needs directions such as exploring the possibilities of functioning of the system of socio-economic training of specialists in dialectical interaction with other systems of their continuous training.