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 for the transfer of funding to each Autonomous Community is settled by means of a multilateral agreement between regional governments and the State, which guarantees, through a series of mechanisms, solidarity between territories and a certain level of expenditure for the provision of the basic public service of education throughout the country.

The Autonomous Communities enjoy a high degree of management autonomy and they are therefore entitled to approve their own annual budget and to decide on the distribution of their resources.

Most of the investment in education is public, representing an 88% of the total spending on education in 2021 in primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary studies, and a 67% in tertiary education.

Private expenditure comes mainly from household spending: 12% in primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary studies (out of a total of 12% of private expenditure), and 29% in tertiary education (our of a total of 31%).

Proportion of public and private expenditure on education. Year 2021

Source: Drawn up by Eurydice National Unit of Spain (National Institute for Educational Evaluation, MEFD) on the basis of Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators 2023 (Chapter C3, Table C3.3., page 300).

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 for registration and tuition fees. In public universities, private funding comes mainly from registration and tuition fees paid by students, the organisation of 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.

Tertiary education students are the ones generating the highest cost, followed, in this order, by those in secondary education, primary education and early childhood education.

Annual expenditure (public and private) per student by educational institutions, relative to GDP per capita (from childhood to tertiary education). Year 2021

Source: Drawn up by Eurydice National Unit of Spain (National Institute for Educational Evaluation, MEFD) on the basis of Sistema estatal de indicadores de la educación 2024 (Indicator F2, Table 1, page 74).

Public educational expenditure in 2022 reached around EUR 63 4462.5 million, representing 4.62% of the GDP, and was mainly distributed amongst pre-primary and primary education (29.0%), secondary education and vocational training (29.2%) and university education (18.4%).

Distribution of public expenditure on education according to educational activity. 2022 (in EUR thousand) 

¹ From the initial amount of 11 655 355.9  thousand euros, 381 558 thousand euros have been deducted from the MEFD scholarships for exemption from academic fees, and 1 544 090 thousand euros of private funding from the universities.

Source: Drawn up by Eurydice National Unit of Spain (National Institute for Educational Evaluation, MEFD), on the basis of statistics on public spending on education, 2022, (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.

Public spending on education also includes transfers made to publicly-funded private schools in the form of educational grants and educational agreements. In 2022, around EUR 7 495 million euros were allocated to publicly-funded private schools offering pre-primary and/or primary education, secondary education, special education, other types of education and university education.

Public expenditure allocated to agreements. 2022 (in EUR thousand)

Source: Drawn up by Eurydice National Unit of Spain (National Institute for Educational Evaluation, MEFD) on the basis of data from Statistics on Public Spending in education, 2022 (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.