Financing for equity in higher education
1. Education resources to subnational governments
2. Education resources to institutions
3. Education resources to students
4. Support for students' living costs
Introduction
Key financing indicators (UIS Data)
According to the 2025 UIS database, the gross enrolment ratio for tertiary education for both sexes is 59.81%. According to the 2021 UIS database, the initial government funding per tertiary student as a percentage of GDP per capita is 17.36. No information is available regarding the initial household funding per tertiary student as a percentage of GDP per capita.
Tuition-free status
According to the 2023 Constitutional Amendment, everyone “has the right to get free higher education in public educational institutions on a competitive basis.”
Governance
The government body in charge of financing, regulating, and overseeing higher education is the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation (MHESI). While MHESI provides the central regulatory framework, Uzbekistan also explicitly grants institutional autonomy to higher education institutions under the 2021 Presidential Decree, which establishes greater independence in academic planning, financial management, and internal governance.
1. Education resources to subnational governments
The higher education system is mainly centralised.
2. Education resources to institutions
Funding for private universities in the absence of public institutions
For the 2025/2026 academic year, the government has approved over 1,300 state grants allocated to applicants enrolling in private and foreign universities. However, this support is directed toward students (grant-winners), not necessarily a general operating subsidy for the private university itself. Private universities remain subject to licensing and financing rules: under a 2025 regulation, the government tightened requirements for private university licensing (minimum charter capital, infrastructure, internal reinvestment, etc.) for institutions to operate.
Allocation and equity
Public higher-education institutions receive their financing primarily through the central state budget, allocated via the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation (MHESI). Funding is distributed according to state-approved norms and institutional budgets, which consider factors such as enrolment plans, programme costs, staffing needs, and strategic development priorities set by the government. This system is largely input-based rather than formula- or performance-based. In addition, the 2019-2030 National Plan (On Approval of the Concept for the Development of the Higher Education System until 2030) emphasises a long-term shift for higher education institutions to a self-financing system.
3. Education resources to students
Admission for vulnerable groups
According to the 2022 Decree on the Organization of Enrolment to Public Higher Education Institutions, students are admitted through a centrally regulated, quota-based system in which the State Commission annually approves state grant, paid-contract, and additional contract admission parameters based on proposals from relevant ministries tied to labor-market needs; applicants must take entrance examinations administered by the State Testing Center (DTM), which conducts nationwide standardized tests in two major (profile) subjects and additional subjects when required for ranking, and state grants are then awarded strictly by descending score order, while applicants who score below the grant cutoff may enrol through standard paid contracts, differentiated contracts linked to specialty demand, or additional contracts such as employer-sponsored programs or seats filled through unoccupied quota places.
The decree also establishes special admission mechanisms, including a separate baseline contract quota for women to increase female participation in higher education, a 2% additional state grant quota for persons with disabilities, and exam-exempt admission for winners and prize holders of major international Olympiads and sports competitions, while transfers from foreign and non-state universities require professional or subject-based examinations.
Scholarships, grants and loans for vulnerable groups
According to the 2020 Decree on Measures to Determine the Amounts of Scholarships Paid to Students of Higher Educational Institutions and to Improve the Procedure for Awarding and Paying Scholarships, scholarships are financed from the republican budget, and each university also maintains a Student Incentive Fund formed according to state rules and used for additional targeted support. Oversight is carried out by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation (MHESI) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, while the scholarship commission at each university prepares recommendations for final approval by the rector. Scholarships are assigned twice a year and begin from the first day of each month of the semester once academic results are finalised. First-year students receive the basic scholarship until their first-semester results are available.
Grant-funded students who achieve only excellent results receive a scholarship increased by 20%, while those with fewer than 30% satisfactory marks retain the basic amount. Students with 30% or more unsatisfactory results lose scholarship eligibility for the next semester unless they belong to protected groups such as orphans, children deprived of parental care, or students with disabilities. Fee-contract students may choose a contract “with scholarship,” in which the basic scholarship is included in their annual payment and issued each semester, regardless of performance, once the contract is paid. Scholarship payments continue during vacations and internships, are paused during academic leave, and remain fully paid during maternity-related leave.
Additional support is granted for specific categories of students. Students with disabilities receive a stipend that is 50% higher than the basic scholarship. Orphans and children deprived of parental care who are fully state-supported receive the basic scholarship from the budget along with an additional 50% paid through the university’s Student Incentive Fund. Holders of the President’s scholarship and named state scholarships receive their established monthly amounts whether they study on a grant or fee-contract. A special monthly scholarship is also provided for female bachelor’s students who are low-income and achieve only excellent results, paid alongside the general scholarship as long as both conditions are maintained.
4. Support for students’ living costs
Transportation
Student transportation support comes from both national and local levels: the central government provides nationwide benefits such as 50%-discount train tickets, national subsidies for students with disabilities that cover living and transport expenses, and is expanding the Social Card system that can provide free or subsidised public-transport access for eligible groups, including students. Meanwhile, city-level transport operators (e.g., via ATTO in major cities) continue to offer discounted “student” transport cards for buses/metro.
Accommodation
The 2023 Decree on Measures to Improve the System of Providing Housing for Students of Higher Education Institutions introduces transparent online allocation of dormitory places and a rent-reimbursement system for students who cannot be housed in dormitories, under which 60% of students living in rented accommodation at state higher education institutions are eligible for reimbursement from the State Budget, while institutions may additionally support more than this share from their extra-budgetary funds. Rent compensation is paid at one base calculation amount in Tashkent and half in other regions, and first-year students from remote areas receive unconditional rent support for September-October, even without a rental contract, with payments continuing from November once a contract is submitted. Priority for both dormitory placement and rent reimbursement is given to orphans and children without guardians, students listed in the Unified Social Protection Register, students with disabilities, foreign students, multiple siblings studying full-time on a fee-paying basis, and winners of national competitions and active student leaders.
Textbooks
No centralised national government programme provides direct subsidies or free provision specifically for student textbook purchases.
This profile has been reviewed by the National Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
