Who gets 50-70% tuition reduction?

The government issued Decree No. 238/2025 regulating tuition fees, tuition fee exemptions, reductions, and support, as well as support for learning expenses and service prices in the field of education and training. This decree details 14 groups of students who are exempt from tuition fees.

In addition to the 14 groups of students who are exempt from tuition fees, the government stipulates that several other groups are entitled to a 50-70% reduction.

The following groups are eligible for a 50% tuition fee reduction: Students whose father or mother suffered a work-related accident or contracted an occupational disease and are receiving regular benefits.

The following groups are eligible for a 70% tuition fee reduction:

Students studying traditional and specialized arts in vocational education institutions and public and private universities that offer cultural and artistic training include: folk opera musicians, Hue traditional musicians, Southern Vietnamese folk music performers, stage actors, folk performance artists, Ca Tru singing artists, Bai Choi singing artists, and traditional musical instrument performers.

Students study specialized fields such as court music, traditional opera (cheo, tuong, cai luong), dance, and circus arts; some vocational courses are arduous, hazardous, and dangerous...

Students who are members of ethnic minorities (excluding those from very small ethnic minority groups) and whose parents or guardians reside in particularly disadvantaged villages/hamlets, communes in Zone III of ethnic minority and mountainous areas, or particularly disadvantaged communes in coastal and island areas.

The government also specifies the categories of people eligible for tuition fee support, including:

Preschool children, primary and secondary school students, and learners in general education programs (students enrolled in continuing education programs at the lower secondary level and students enrolled in continuing education programs at the upper secondary level) in private and non-governmental educational institutions within the national education system.

Postgraduate students at the master's, doctoral, specialist level I, specialist level II, and resident physician levels in psychiatry, pathology, forensic medicine, forensic psychiatry, infectious diseases, and emergency resuscitation at private educational institutions in the health sector.

Furthermore, the decree also stipulates that, starting from the 2025-2026 school year, all preschool children and primary and secondary school students will be exempt from tuition fees at public institutions. This is a prominent new point in Decree 238/2025/ND-CP, recently issued by the Government on September 3, 2025, along with policies supporting tuition fees for students in private and independent schools, and many regulations encouraging the development of high-quality human resources.

The Decree, comprising 6 chapters and 29 articles, regulates the tuition fee framework, tuition fee collection and management mechanisms, policies on tuition fee exemption, reduction, and support, support for learning costs in educational institutions within the national education system, and service prices in the field of education and training.

The regulations on tuition fee frameworks (floor and ceiling levels) or tuition fee ceilings for different educational levels, and tuition fee schedules, are inherited from the provisions of Decree No. 81/2021/ND-CP and Decree No. 97/2023/ND-CP.

The objective is to ensure the stability of tuition fee policies, create proactive and convenient conditions for learners, educational institutions, and management agencies, while implementing a step-by-step roadmap to offset salary costs, direct costs, management costs, depreciation of fixed assets, and other costs as stipulated by law on pricing.

In addition to inheriting previous regulations, Decree 238/2025/ND-CP supplements and provides specific guidance according to Resolution No. 217/2025/QH15: (1) tuition fee exemption for preschool children, primary and secondary school students, and learners of general education programs at public educational institutions; (2) tuition fee support for preschool children, primary and secondary school students, and learners of general education programs at private and non-profit educational institutions is supported at the level stipulated by the Provincial People's Council, but not exceeding the tuition fee level of private and non-profit institutions.