Families with children attending school spend the most on the school season each year, not only to connect their children to school, to adapt their schools, but also to charge a wide variety of school fees。
Over the years, a number of parents have been familiar with the fact that school fees are not uniform or well-known, and that many hidden fees and tied fees do not make sense. In the same city, there are wide disparities in fees between different school districts and the nature of the schools. Many parents do not know if they should or should not pay, and the need for a refund is more cumbersome and restricted。
Expenditure on education as a fixed, large-scale expense for ordinary households is regulated, transparent and directly related to the cost of living of thousands of households. In order to eliminate all educational costs and effectively reduce the burden of education on families, the national development commission and the ministry of education formally introduced new regulations for the administration of education fees throughout the country in 2026, along with detailed regulations for all provinces and municipalities, covering all classes of kindergarten, compulsory primary and secondary schools, general high schools and general higher education institutions, and including all the subjects of public and private education。
The 2026 fee reform for education is a comprehensive and systematic upgrade compared to the small fee adjustment in previous years. The overall fee model is subject to a qualitative change that focuses on four core shifts, each of which is closely related to ordinary student families and deserves careful attention from all parents。
I. Full roll-out of fees and complete farewell to school fees the bill
This was the most vigorous and inclusive adjustment to the 2026 fee reform in education, which addressed the long-standing problem of excessive fees and price increases at the institutional level。
In the previous model of fee management for education, the line of fees was relatively vague, and the state harmonized the basis of fee lines, but left greater autonomy for local and school spaces. Some schools have added fees that are not covered by official regulations in the name of services, support and outreach. There is no uniform standard for all types of incidental and ancillary expenses, which are set by the school itself, and the parents, who have no official reference basis, can only contribute passively。
Following the fall of the new land in 2026, a system of official catalogues of fees was implemented in all schools throughout the country. The education and development departments at the local level jointly prepare and review the lists of fees to be charged to schools within the jurisdiction, which clearly indicate the charges, the official pricing, the applicable sections and the basis for the charges。
All compliance fees are publicly available, and schools are subject to long-term publicity on school boards, official public numbers, and educational government platforms, under the supervision of all parents and the public。
The new plan sets an unbreakable hard-line line, and all charges that are not included in the official list are for non-compliance. Parents can directly refuse to pay any extracurricular fees, and can report back through the education administration's complaints channel, which is available through 12315. All non-compliance charges that have been paid can be reimbursed in full in accordance with the normal process。
In addition to this, the current inventory reform has significantly streamlined the redundancy charge line, with a strict distinction between administrative utility charges, service charges and surcharges. The compulsory education phase has been further reduced to non-essential fees, all non-necessary fees have been eliminated, all fees for pre-school, high school and higher education have been harmonized, and non-characterized charges have been abolished from local sources。
From now on, parents will pay their tuition fees, fees and fees, so that they will be paid against the official public list, which will be paid in accordance with the rules and will not cost a penny for projects not covered by the list。
Ii. All collections and service charges are voluntary, with a total ban on compulsory binding fees
In the common board of fees for procurement of school uniforms, subscriptions to teaching aids, after-school services, school meals, research practices, problems of binding fees, forced consumption, and the areas where parental disputes are most prevalent, have been most frequent。
In the past, a number of schools have consistently required students to order assigned teaching aids, to procure uniformed uniforms, and to organize out-of-school studies and outreach activities. Even when families have prepared their own materials and do not need to participate in collective activities, they are charged a flat fee and non-contributory payments are treated differently, adding unnecessary extra expenses to many ordinary households。
In conjunction with the latest education fee rules of 2026, all schools in the country have a voluntary principle of service charges and surrogate fees, and no school, classroom teacher or class manager is allowed to impose a fee on students under any name。
The new regulations provide for detailed and clear regulation of the types of flexible fees that are common. Non-required materials, such as uniforms, after-school readings, learning materials, school accident insurance, smart campus equipment, etc., are available in schools only for the public procurement channels and reference prices, and are not subject to uniform organizational fees and purchases. Parents are free to choose whether or not to purchase, and schools are not allowed to intervene, especially if they are not allowed to treat students differently。
While services such as after-school delay services and school meals, which are newly required, remain subject to compliance charges, they are subject to uniform approval by government departments, are transparent, priced consistently throughout the year, and schools are not allowed to raise their own prices and charge additional fees。
For extracurricular activities such as study tours, social practices and extracurricular outreach, the new regulations are clearly all voluntary projects. Students who wish to participate are voluntarily invited to pay their fees, and those who do not participate are not restricted from attending normal classes, are not deprived of their normal rights and interests at school and are completely excluded from all assessed fees。
The greatest value of this reform is the complete return of consumption options to families, the standardization and transparency of fees, the liberalization of non-immediate fees and the effective saving of unnecessary educational expenses for families。
Iii. A comprehensive tightening of the pricing mechanism to eliminate arbitrary and annual increases in school prices
In recent years, frequent increases in fees for private kindergartens, primary and secondary schools and some higher education institutions have been a common problem for many parents. In many private schools, school fees are increased at random, rising every year, rising sharply in the following years, and the price increases are vaguely justified and not publicly justified。
Many families spend their children in school according to the standard budget, suffer from high school fees and sudden increases in economic pressure, and face difficulties in adapting and choosing to attend school。
In response to the industry disorderly rise in school prices, in 2026, the new regulations established a standardized and highly regulated fee-fixing mechanism, thoroughly regulating the behaviour of schools at all levels and at all levels。
The new regulations make it clear that core fixed-charge items such as tuition fees, accommodation fees and, if price adjustments are required, the filing, auditing, hearing and publicity process must be strictly enforced. Schools are required to submit to the competent authorities a full request for a price adjustment detailing the costs of running a school, the size of the offer, the reasons for the offer, and after a double review by the two branches of education, a full public announcement must be made six months in advance。
At the same time, the new regulations set strict rules for price increases. Tuition fees and accommodation fees for all publicly run schools remain stable over the long term, without a uniform national policy adjustment, and no autonomous price adjustment is allowed. The frequency and magnitude of price increases in private schools are strictly regulated, the prices of which are prohibited from increasing in an irregular manner over the years, and they are directly disqualified from charging private schools that do not meet the standards for quality, have high complaints and are not regulated。
The new standards of old age and old age and the new rules of new age that have been added to this reform are the brightest points for living together and protecting the rights of the family. After the school has adjusted the fee price, the new fee is applied only to those new students who were enrolled in the year, to those who are already in the school, and to those who are already in the school, at the rate of the year in which they were enrolled, and there will be no price increases throughout the study cycle。
This provision completely addresses the “high mid-to-school price” problem, which parents fear most, so that household expenditure on education can be planned in a stable manner over the long term, avoiding the economic pressures of sudden expenditure。
Iv. Harmonized classification of corrections and all cost response respects are responsibilable, state-closed
In addition to excessive fees and price hikes, the most prominent source of distress in the system of school fees has been the irregularity and remission of fees。
The remaining costs are often difficult to recover when students leave school midway for reasons such as transfer, suspension or drop-out, or are not involved in paid projects such as after-school services, research activities, etc. In some schools, there are delays in refunds, deductions, various thresholds for refunds, and there is no uniform reimbursement standard, and parental advocacy is time-consuming and ineffective。
The 2026 education fee reform was designed to supplement the fee drawback management sheet by introducing a national uniform set of rules for the whole scene, covering all sections, all fee lines, and defining the criteria for refunds for the various scenarios, the manner of accounting and the time frame for processing。
The new regulations make it clear that after-school services, accommodations, meals, extracurricular activities, etc., are subject to school term, monthly fees, and that if students do not benefit from the corresponding services or are terminated from school, they will be fully reimbursed on the basis of the actual duration of the school's stay and participation, the cost of services not incurred will have to be fully refunded, and the school will not be allowed to deduct any additional costs, such as fees, fees for handling, management, work capital, etc。
For students who have transferred, dropped out or dropped out of school, tuition and accommodation fees are accurately accounted for in proportion to the remaining term, and the school must complete the refund within the prescribed working day after the parents have submitted their application for compliance, without undue delay, refusal or withdrawal。
At the same time, the education, market and regulatory authorities have established a regular fee verification and refund inspection mechanism, which regularly screens school fees. Once a school has been found to be in violation of the law, the school has been ordered to clear all the costs of the violation in full and is held accountable for the school's renovation. Local political platforms and educational hotlines also provide rapid access to refunds to protect the legitimate rights and interests of parents。
Summary
Taken together, the four new changes in educational fees that landed in 2026 were not simply price increases or price reductions, but a general optimization and regulation of the domestic system of education fees。
The central purpose of the reform was to address the long-standing problems of non-transparent fees, binding forced consumption, disorderly price increases and difficulty in refunding fees, to regulate the organization of school fees throughout the industry and to reduce unreasonable expenditure on education, thereby effectively reducing the cost of childcare for ordinary families。
From transparent fees on the list, voluntary and flexible consumption, to the stabilization of fee prices and regulation of fee refunds, each new regulation is based on the real needs of ordinary families, making education fees more equitable, transparent and reasonable, and making every educational expenditure of parents clear and affordable。
With the implementation of the new school term in the fall of 2026, the national school billing system will be fundamentally overhauled, household expenditure on education will be more stable and manageable, and the level of human security in education will be increased。
Topical discussion
Are the fees for schools in your area regulated? Which of these four new rules for education fees, in your opinion, would best reduce the pressure on family education? We welcome the idea of rational exchange in the comment area。
Continuous attention is paid to this account, which will be followed by an ongoing update of the new policy of 2026 on education, social security and welfare, and the sharing of practical information on the lives of people close to the lives of ordinary people。
Disclaimer
The contents of this document, which is a synthesis of the policy document on the administration of fees for education issued by the ministry of national education, the national commission for development and reform and the provincial and municipal governments in 2026, are intended for general public use only and do not constitute any basis for choice of school, payment of fees or advocacy。
#new rules for education fees 2026 # new policies for school fees # home education expenditure # new rules for people's live interpretation # primary and secondary school fees regulation #educate people's policy
