WORLD Policy Analysis Center

Is completing secondary education tuition-free?

This map tells us whether countries make secondary education accessible to their citizens by providing tuition-free education until the last year of secondary education.

Guaranteeing tuition-free education can eliminate a financial barrier to schooling that disproportionally impact girls, poor children, children with disabilities, and other marginalized groups.

Tuition refers to fees charged for access to public education. It does not include fees that may be levied on other specific educational materials, such as textbooks or uniforms. In countries with tuition-free guarantees to public education, tuition may be charged in private schools operating in parallel.

No tuition-free guarantee means that there is no explicit guarantee to tuition-free education through the completion of secondary school in the country’s constitution, legislation, or non-legislative policy commitments.

Subject to progressive realization means that the country does not commit to tuition-free education through the completion of secondary school, but has committed to take steps to gradually implement tuition-free secondary education over time.

Policy guarantee to tuition-free refers to guarantees to tuition-free education through the completion of secondary school that are included in policy documents or non-legislative government commitments. While this can be a valuable policy-making approach, non-legislative guarantees to tuition-free can be more impermanent and reversable than those enshrined in legislation or constitutions.

Legislative or constitutional guarantee to tuition-free means that a guarantee to tuition-free school through the completion of secondary is enshrined in the country’s legislation or constitution.

Countries

Angola - Not tuition-free

Bangladesh - Not tuition-free

Bhutan - Not tuition-free

Botswana - Not tuition-free

Burkina Faso - Not tuition-free

Burundi - Not tuition-free

Cameroon - Not tuition-free

China - Not tuition-free

Comoros - Not tuition-free

Democratic Republic of the Congo - Not tuition-free

Croatia - Not tuition-free

Cyprus - Not tuition-free

Equatorial Guinea - Not tuition-free

Eritrea - Not tuition-free

Gabon - Not tuition-free

Guinea-Bissau - Not tuition-free

Haiti - Not tuition-free

India - Not tuition-free

Indonesia - Not tuition-free

Italy - Not tuition-free

Jamaica - Not tuition-free

Kiribati - Not tuition-free

Libya - Not tuition-free

Liechtenstein - Not tuition-free

Malawi - Not tuition-free

Micronesia, Federated States of - Not tuition-free

Morocco - Not tuition-free

Niger - Not tuition-free

Nigeria - Not tuition-free

Rwanda - Not tuition-free

Samoa - Not tuition-free

San Marino - Not tuition-free

Sao Tome and Principe - Not tuition-free

Senegal - Not tuition-free

Sierra Leone - Not tuition-free

Singapore - Not tuition-free

Solomon Islands - Not tuition-free

South Africa - Not tuition-free

St. Lucia - Not tuition-free

Sudan - Not tuition-free

Eswatini - Not tuition-free

Tanzania - Not tuition-free

Timor-Leste - Not tuition-free

Tonga - Not tuition-free

Tuvalu - Not tuition-free

Uganda - Not tuition-free

United Kingdom - Not tuition-free

Vanuatu - Not tuition-free

Vietnam - Not tuition-free

Zimbabwe - Not tuition-free

Benin - Subject to progressive realization

Cabo Verde - Subject to progressive realization

The Gambia - Subject to progressive realization

Lesotho - Subject to progressive realization

Liberia - Subject to progressive realization

Mozambique - Subject to progressive realization

Myanmar - Subject to progressive realization

Suriname - Subject to progressive realization

Andorra - Policy guarantee

Australia - Policy guarantee

Brunei - Policy guarantee

Ethiopia - Policy guarantee

Fiji - Policy guarantee

Iceland - Policy guarantee

Jordan - Policy guarantee

Malaysia - Policy guarantee

The Netherlands - Policy guarantee

Papua New Guinea - Policy guarantee

Qatar - Policy guarantee

Saudi Arabia - Policy guarantee

Slovenia - Policy guarantee

Togo - Policy guarantee

Türkiye - Policy guarantee

Yemen - Policy guarantee

Zambia - Policy guarantee

Afghanistan - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Albania - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Algeria - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Antigua and Barbuda - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Argentina - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Armenia - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Austria - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Azerbaijan - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Bahamas - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Bahrain - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Barbados - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Belarus - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Belgium - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Belize - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Bolivia - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Bosnia and Herzegovina - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Brazil - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Bulgaria - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Cambodia - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Canada - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Central African Republic - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Chad - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Chile - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Colombia - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Republic of the Congo - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Costa Rica - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Cote d'Ivoire - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Cuba - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Czech Republic - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Denmark - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Djibouti - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Dominica - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Dominican Republic - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Ecuador - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Egypt - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

El Salvador - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Estonia - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Finland - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

France - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Georgia - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Germany - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Ghana - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Greece - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Greenland - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Grenada - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Guatemala - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Guinea - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Guyana - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Honduras - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Hungary - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Iran - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Iraq - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Ireland - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Israel - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Japan - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Kazakhstan - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Kenya - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Democratic People's Republic of Korea - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Republic of Korea - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Kuwait - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Kyrgyzstan - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Laos - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Latvia - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Lebanon - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Lithuania - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Luxembourg - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

North Macedonia - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Madagascar - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Maldives - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Mali - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Malta - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Marshall Islands - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Mauritania - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Mauritius - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Mexico - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Moldova - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Monaco - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Mongolia - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Montenegro - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Namibia - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Nauru - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Nepal - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

New Zealand - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Nicaragua - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Norway - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Oman - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Pakistan - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Palau - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Panama - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Paraguay - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Peru - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

The Philippines - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Poland - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Portugal - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Romania - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Russian Federation - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Serbia - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Seychelles - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Slovakia - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Somalia - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

South Sudan - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Spain - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Sri Lanka - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

St. Kitts and Nevis - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

St. Vincent and the Grenadines - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Sweden - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Syria - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Tajikistan - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Thailand - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Trinidad and Tobago - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Tunisia - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Turkmenistan - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Ukraine - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

United Arab Emirates - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

United States of America - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Uruguay - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Uzbekistan - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Venezuela - Legislative or constitutional guarantee