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)
The gross enrolment ratio for tertiary education for both sexes was 69.55 in 2024. The initial government funding per tertiary student as a percentage of GDP per capita was 20.52 in 2022. The initial household funding per tertiary student as a percentage of GDP per capita was 12.39 in 2022.
Tuition-free status
Public tertiary education in Bulgaria is not fully tuition-free under current national laws and policies. The 1991 Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria states that education in higher state schools is free of charge only “under conditions determined by law.” The 1995 Higher Education Act explicitly allows public higher education institutions to charge application and tuition fees. Recent amendments to the Higher Education Act adopted in 2025 introduced limits on tuition fees for paid programmes, stipulating that fees may not exceed 60% of the cost of education for a student in the state-funded system.
Governance
Higher education financing is centrally overseen by the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) and the Ministry of Finance, under the authority of the National Assembly and the Council of Ministers. The MES directs higher education policy and administers the sector budget, including subsidies to public institutions, while the Ministry of Finance prepares the annual budget in accordance with the State Budget Act. The National Assembly adopts the Higher Education Act and the State Budget Act, which set the legal and financial framework for university funding, and the Council of Ministers issues decrees specifying funding methodologies, perstudent norms and targeted allocations. Quality assurance is conducted by the National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency, whose accreditation decisions determine the eligibility of institutions and programmes to receive public funding.
1. Education resources to subnational governments
There are generally no formal mechanisms for transferring resources from the central government to sub-national governments to finance public higher education institutions. Instead, public universities receive funding directly from the state budget through the Ministry of Education and Science. The main allocation mechanism is a national funding formula that distributes resources to higher education institutions based primarily on the number of students, fields of study (with differentiated cost coefficients), and performance indicators. Sub-national governments (municipalities) do not play a formal role in financing higher education.
2. Education resources to institutions
Funding for private universities in the absence of public institutions
The 1995 Higher Education Act requires private higher education institutions to secure their own financial resources through their founding members and private income sources, including tuition fees and donations. Core public subsidies from the state budget are allocated only to state higher education institutions. However, accredited private universities may participate in competitive public funding schemes, such as national research programmes administered by the National Science Fund (Bulgaria) and European Union programmes (e.g., Horizon Europe and the European Social Fund Plus), provided they meet eligibility requirements.
Allocation and equity
Government subsidies to public higher education institutions are regulated by the 1995 Higher Education Act. The Act provides that public funding for higher education should amount to at least 0.9% of GDP, although actual allocations are determined annually through the State Budget Act. Funds are allocated to accredited institutions mainly based on student numbers and differentiated per-student funding coefficients across fields of study, with a share of funding linked to performance indicators such as educational quality and labour-market outcomes. The Council of Ministers of Bulgaria determines the annual subsidy for each public higher school and sets the conditions for scholarships and compensation to institutions for the waiver of fees for certain categories of students, including students with disabilities and orphans.
3. Education resources to students
Admission for vulnerable groups
Bulgarian higher education policy provides for specific admission arrangements and financial support measures for several vulnerable groups, as set out in the 1995 Higher Education Act. Public higher education institutions may admit students from socially excluded and disadvantaged groups under reduced conditions and preferential admission orders, including full orphans, persons with long-term disabilities, military disabled and war victims, young people who, at the age of majority, were under protection measures under the Child Protection Act, and mothers of children below six years of age. In addition, Decree No. 264 of 25 July 2024 authorizes up to 400 foreign citizens or stateless persons with temporary protection to enroll in state universities outside the regular admission quotas.
The Strategic Framework for the Development of Education, Training and Learning 2021–2030 commits to expanding financial support and targeted places for vulnerable learners, including students from low-income families and persons under temporary protection.
Scholarships, grants and loans for vulnerable groups
The 1995 Higher Education Act mandates the Council of Ministers to define the types, amounts and allocation procedures for these scholarships and related social benefits, which are then implemented by institutions in their internal rules. The following groups are entitled to statefunded scholarships regardless of academic performance: unmarried students without both parents, students with permanent disabilities, those with parents with permanent disabilities, care leavers under the Child Protection Act, student mothers with a child up to six years of age, and student fathers with a young child for whom they are sole or primary carers.
Loans are available under the 2008 Student and Doctoral-Candidate Loans Act (SDCLA), which establishes a government-guaranteed loan scheme, implemented through partner banks, that provides tuition and maintenance loans to full-time Bachelor, Master, and doctoral students, with regulated grace periods and subsidized interest designed to support students with lower earning capacity. In 2026, amendments to the SDCLA were adopted to set interest rates at no higher than 3 per cent (reduced from 7%), increasing the accessibility and affordability of higher education.
Universities may also award merit-based scholarships to students with high academic achievement.
4. Support for students’ living costs
Transportation
The 1995 Higher Education Act states that students are entitled to discounted fares on urban and intercity public transport. Specific discounts are regulated by national legislation and implemented through agreements between the state and transport companies.
Accommodation
The 1995 Higher Education Act states that students are entitled to use student dormitories and canteens. Institutions receive budget subsidies to lower rents and meal prices, and they set detailed rules for allocation and preferential rates in their internal regulations. Students from vulnerable groups including orphans, students with long-term disabilities, those raised under child-protection measures, and mothers with young children may receive preferential accommodation conditions and reduced dormitory rents according to institutional rules supported by state subsidies. Additional investments have been directed toward the renovation and modernization of student dormitories, including projects financed through European Union funds and national recovery programmes.
Textbooks
There is no national textbook subsidy scheme for higher education students in Bulgaria. Students are generally responsible for purchasing their own textbooks and learning materials, although universities may provide access to academic resources through institutional libraries and digital learning platforms.
This profile was reviewed by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Paskal Zhelev, University of National and World Economy.
