Budget 2025: $13.1 billion set aside for free university education starting 2025

– $4.4B for GOAL programme expansion

Allocating $13.1 billion in the 2025 National Budget to finance free tertiary education at the University of Guyana (UG), the Government of Guyana has made a historic step in education reform.
The move abolishes tuition fees, starting January 2025, and is expected to benefit more than 11,000 current students, and all incoming students at the institution.
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and Public Service, Dr Ashni Singh, in his presentation of the 2025 National Budget on Friday, highlighted education as a key area for national development.
The overall education sector is poised to receive $175 billion, emphasising the Government’s commitment to advancing opportunities for citizens across all levels of learning.
“This $13.1 billion allocation underscores our dedication to making education more accessible and ensuring no one is left behind,” Dr Singh remarked during his presentation.
Back in October 2024, President Dr Irfaan Ali disclosed that this initiative will continue his administration’s advancement of the country’s human capital, especially the young generation and their families who will benefit from the tuition-free tertiary education.
The Guyanese leader had noted that this initiative will cost the treasury some $18 billion. “The future belongs to all of these young people,” he asserted at the time.
In keeping with the PPP/C Government’s policy of making tertiary education free in the country, some $1.8 billion in student loans have already been written off by the State.
“Mr Speaker, in keeping with our Manifesto commitments regarding making university education more accessible and affordable, we have begun Phase I of the debt write-off process for persons with outstanding University of Guyana student loans. To date, $1.8 billion in loans were written off for over 2,700 persons, and we continue to urge persons to apply for their loan write off so they can be relieved of this historic obligation,” Singh announced.

GOAL scholarship
Along with the $13.1 billion allocated to UG through the Education Ministry’s budgetary provision, Singh also disclosed that the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) was allocated $4.4 billion to fund scholarships and training programmes.
This initiative has already transformed the lives of nearly 30,000 individuals, with over 8,000 graduates to date. The 2025 allocation aims to provide an additional 9,000 scholarships for online studies at renowned universities worldwide.
Since assuming office in August 2020, some 29,758 Guyanese citizens were granted GOAL scholarships, of which 5,602 individuals secured master’s degrees and 378 have earned PhDs.

This was revealed by Education Minister Priya Manickchand during her Ministry’s Esssnd- of- Year press conference.
“814 from Region One who otherwise could not have access to a foreign university to be able to study for their degrees and master’s and PhDs. 2,702 from Region Two, 4,431 from Region Three, 13,002 from Regions Four and One. 842 from Region Five, Two,983 from Region Six, 918 from Region Seven, 605 from Region Eight, 700 from Region Nine and 1,761 from Region 10…. We are not people who find reasons why things can’t happen. We try to make sure we give opportunities and, of course, people have to avail themselves of those opportunities,” the Minister stated at the time.
Notably, 5,602 earned SCQF Level 6 certificates, 1,312 copped General Educational Development (GEDs), 191 earned Foundation Diplomas, 3 for Undergraduate Certificate, 856 for Associate Degrees, 6,571 copped Bachelor’s, 4 for Postgraduate Certificates and 920 persons earned Postgraduate Diplomas.
Following her announcement on scholarships awarded by programme-level, Manickchand disclosed that a total of 21,436 of the scholarship awardees are women while 8,322 are men.