Tuition exemption for public students officially from the 2025-2026 school year

The Government issued Decree No. 238/2025/ND-CP regulating policies on tuition fees, exemption, reduction, support for tuition fees, support for learning costs and service prices in the field of education and training. Accordingly, the Decree adds a number of subjects eligible for exemption and reduction of tuition fees and will be applied immediately in the 2025-2026 school year.

Decree No. 238 will replace Decree No. 81 and Decree No. 97 of the Government. The Decree consists of 6 chapters and 29 articles regulating tuition fee frameworks, tuition fee collection and management mechanisms, tuition fee exemption, reduction and support policies, support for study costs in educational institutions within the national education system and service prices in the field of education and training.

Public school students will be exempted from tuition fees, private school students will receive tuition support from the 2025-2026 school year.

Regarding tuition fees, the tuition fee roadmap continues to maintain the stability of the regulations on tuition fee framework (floor - ceiling) or tuition fee ceiling for all levels of education. The tuition fee roadmap inherits the regulations of Decree No. 81 and Decree No. 97. The goal is to ensure the stability of tuition fee policy, create initiative and convenience for learners, educational institutions and management agencies, and at the same time implement a roadmap to gradually compensate for salary costs, direct costs, management costs and depreciation of fixed assets, and other costs according to the provisions of the law on prices.

In addition to inheriting previous regulations, Decree 238 supplements and provides specific instructions according to Resolution No. 217/2025 such as: Exemption of tuition fees for preschool children, general education students, and students studying general education programs at public educational institutions; tuition support for preschool children, general education students, and students studying general education programs at private educational institutions is supported at the level prescribed by the Provincial People's Council, but not exceeding the tuition fee level of private institutions.

The new Decree also adds policies to encourage the development of high-quality human resources, meeting the human resource needs for new occupations and economic breakthroughs according to Resolution No. 57 such as: Article 14 "Students studying specialized majors that meet the requirements of socio-economic development, national defense and security according to the provisions of the Law on Higher Education. The list of specialized majors is prescribed by the Government and the Prime Minister" and Clause 11, Article 15 "Students who are subjects of programs and projects are exempted from tuition fees according to the provisions of the Government and the Prime Minister".

The method of implementing tuition exemption and support for learners is regulated in the direction of maximum administrative procedure reform, specifically: Preschool children and high school students do not need to submit applications for tuition exemption and support; at the same time, it is regulated the method of handling administrative procedures through exploiting electronic data available in the National Population Database, other specialized databases and adding the form of submitting documents through the national public service portal to facilitate learners.

The Decree clearly stipulates the authority of state management, principles of price determination, roadmap for price calculation and clarifies the content of services serving and supporting educational activities to ensure consistency in implementation. Pursuant to Decree No. 238/2025/ND-CP, the Government assigns ministries, central agencies, local authorities and educational institutions to urgently prepare sufficient conditions and resources to implement policies on tuition fees, exemption, reduction, support of tuition fees, support of learning costs and service prices in the field of education and training from the 2025-2026 school year, ensuring completeness and timeliness.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/giao-duc/chinh-thuc-mien-hoc-phi-cho-hoc-sinh-cong-lap-tu-nam-hoc-2025-2026-i780352/