According to the Ministry of Education and Training, Decree 238/2025/ND-CP (Decree 238) largely builds upon the tuition fee frameworks and roadmaps established in the previous decrees of 81/2021/ND-CP and 97/2023/ND-CP.
The objective is to maintain policy stability while methodically progressing towards a model where fees eventually cover salaries, direct operational costs, management expenses, and asset depreciation, in line with pricing laws.
For the 2025-2026 school year and beyond, the tuition fee framework for public K-12 schools that are not yet financially self-sufficient will be as follows:
- Preschool & Primary School: approx. VND50,000 - 540,000/month (US$2 - $21)
- Junior High School: approx. VND50,000 - 650,000/month ($2 - $25.50)
- Senior High School: approx. VND100,000 - 650,000/month ($4 - $25.50)
From the 2026-2027 school year through 2035-2036, this tuition ceiling can be adjusted annually by provincial-level People’s Councils. The adjustment rate must be appropriate for local socio-economic conditions and linked to the consumer price index and economic growth, but it cannot exceed 7.5 percent per year.
The People’s Council of the province or centrally-run city will decide on the arrangement and classification of areas in the locality to decide on the tuition fee levels and tuition fee support for preschool children and learners of the general education program in educational institutions under their management.
For public vocational and higher education institutions, regardless of their financial autonomy status, tuition fees will remain stable at the levels set by Decree No. 97/2023/ND-CP through the 2026-2027 academic year. Starting from 2027-2028, the fee ceiling for these institutions can be adjusted based on the social-economic conditions of local residents, but the increase cannot exceed the official consumer price index growth rate from the previous year.
A notable point of Decree 238 is the timely addition and specific guidance according to Resolution No. 217/2025/QH15, such as 14 groups eligible for tuition fee exemption, including preschool children, learners of the general education program at public educational institutions, and higher education students.
Meanwhile, tuition fee support for preschool children, learners of the general education program at private educational institutions will be supported at a level prescribed by the provincial-level People’s Council, but not exceeding the tuition fee collection level of these private institutions.
For vocational and higher education, Decree 238 also supplements policies to encourage the development of high-quality human resources, meeting the human resource needs for new professions and economic breakthroughs according to Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo. The method of implementing tuition fee exemption and support for learners is regulated in the direction of maximizing administrative procedure reform.
Specifically, preschool children and general education students do not need to submit applications for tuition fee exemption, reduction, or support. The method of resolving administrative procedures is through exploiting electronic data already available in the National Population Database and other specialized databases. There is an additional method of submitting dossiers via the national public service portal to create convenience for learners.
According to Head Nguyen Trung Nhan of the Student Affairs Department at HCMC University of Industry, Decree 238 has specified the tuition fee levels and tuition fee exemptions and reductions as well as the implementation methods. This helps training institutions not to be passive in adjusting fee levels. In addition, the decree expands the groups considered for tuition fee exemption and reduction. This is very consistent with the general policy of the Party and State.
Immediately after the decree was issued, the university reviewed its policies on tuition fees as well as tuition fee exemptions and reductions. The university will also adjust to expand the groups eligible for this regime in the near future. In parallel with the tuition fee and exemption/reduction regime, the university has many attractive scholarship policies to commend, encourage, motivate, and share with learners as well.
Implementing Decree 238 from the 2025-2026 academic year
The decree clearly stipulates the state management authority, the principles for determining prices, the price calculation roadmap, and clarifies the content of services that support educational activities to ensure uniformity in implementation.
The Government has assigned ministries, central agencies, local authorities, and educational institutions to urgently prepare full conditions and resources to implement the policies on tuition fees, tuition fee exemption, reduction, as well as support for learning costs and prices of services in the education and training sector right from the 2025-2026 school year, ensuring they are full and timely.
