The Spanish education system has a decentralised management and administration model. Educational powers are shared between the following:

• the State General Administration (AGE): Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports (MEFD) and Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCNU);
• the autonomous communities (departments of education or universities).

The general system of funding the autonomous communites is settled by a multilateral agreement between them and the State. This agreement guarantees inter-regional solidarity and specific level of expenditure for the provision of education as an special service throughout the country.

The autonomous communities have considereable autonomy, with the ability to approve their own annual budgets and determine their resources.

The proportion of spending on education in 2022 is shown in the following table.

Proportion of public and private expenditure on education. Year 2022

Source: Drawn up by Eurydice National Unit of Spain (INEE, MEFD) on the basis of Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators 2025 (Chapter C1, Web Table C1.5.) [last accessed 27/02/2026].

Public expenditure on education refers to the amounts targeted by public authorities. Most of it is assumed by the education authorities (MEFD, MCNU and the departments of education  or universities in each autonomous community), whereas the rest is provided by other authorities.

Private funding comes exclusively from private sources. Non-university education in public schools and publicly-funded private schools supplements public expenditure and covers expenses such as books and school materials, meals, transport or extracurricular activities. In private non grant-aided schools, families must pay the full cost of tuition and education. 

In public universities, private funding comes mainly from tuition and fees paid by students, as well as from specialised courses and agreements signed with private corporations, as well as from other sources such as legacies, donations or subsidies granted by private institutions.

The annual expenditure, both public and private, per student by educational institutions is the result of dividing the total expenditure on education by the total number of students in Spain. This expenditure per student, expressed as a percentage of GDP per capita, reflects the effort made by the country in relation to its level of development.

Annual expenditure (public and private) per student by educational institutions, relative to GDP per capita (from childhood to tertiary education). Year 2022

Source: Drawn up by Eurydice National Unit of Spain (INEE, MEFD) on the basis of Sistema estatal de indicadores de la educación 2025 (Indicator F2, Table 1, page 74) [last accessed 27/02/2026].

Public educational expenditure in 2023 reached around EUR 67 937.9 million, distributed as shown below. 

Distribution of public expenditure on education according to educational activity. 2023 (in EUR thousand) 

¹ From the initial amount of 12 300 491.2 thousand euros, 539 666 thousand euros have been deducted from the MEFD scholarships for exemption from academic fees, and 1 491 099 thousand euros of private funding from the universities.

Source: Drawn up by Eurydice National Unit of Spain (INEE, MEFD), on the basis of statistics on public spending on education, 2023, (total expenditure on education by type of education activity and economic nature) of  the General Subdirectorate for Statistics and Studies of the MEFD. rediE has elaborated the comparative chart of public expenditure distribution according to educational activity per autonomous community (last accessed 27/02/2026).

Public spending on education also includes transfers made to publicly-funded private schools in the form of educational grants and educational agreements. 

Public expenditure allocated to agreements. 2023 (in EUR thousand)

Source: Drawn up by Eurydice National Unit of Spain (INEE, MEFD) on the basis of data from Statistics on Public Spending in education, 2023 (transfers from educational administrations to private schools by educational administration and level) of the General Subdirectorate for Statistics and Studies of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training. RediE has elaborated the comparative chart of public expenditure distribution allocated on educational agreements per autonomous community (last accessed 27/02/2026).