Hanoi cost7 minute read

What do Hanoi school fees add up to for a family?

By the Vietnam Expat team. Last reviewed 2026-09-22

Hanoi school fees run from free at a public school for a citizen's child to about 236 US dollars a month at the priciest of five high-quality public schools priced for 2025 to 2026 [7], and 845 to 3,323 US dollars a month at BIS, BVIS and UNIS Hanoi [2][3][4], before one-time and yearly extras.

Key facts

Who this is for: Families weighing an ordinary Hanoi public school (free for a citizen's child, a small fee for others), Hanoi's own higher priced high-quality public tier, and international schools such as BIS, BVIS and UNIS Hanoi.
Cost: From free to about 8 US dollars a month at an ordinary public school depending on the waiver, 116 to 236 US dollars a month at the five Hanoi high-quality public schools we found priced for 2025 to 2026, and 845 to about 3,323 US dollars a month at the three international schools we priced in full, BIS, BVIS and UNIS Hanoi. iSchoolAdvisor's own guide shows other Hanoi international schools starting lower, around 583 US dollars a month [11].
Time: Check one school's own fee sheet against this page, and confirm a foreign child's public school route with the school directly.
Documents: Each school's own current fee sheet, since tuition changes by year. This page's research did not confirm what paperwork enrollment itself requires; confirm document requirements directly with the specific school.
What changed recently: Hanoi reset its regular public fee schedule under Resolution 47/2025/NQ-HDND and its high-quality public school fees under Resolution 58/2025/NQ-HDND, both passed in November 2025 for school year 2025 to 2026. International tuition on this page is for 2026 to 2027.
What is still unverified: Whether a foreign-passport child qualifies for Hanoi's tuition waiver or support payment, and whether Hanoi's high-quality school fees changed again for 2026 to 2027.

What are the three levels of school cost in Hanoi?

A Hanoi family picks a school from three cost levels, not two. An ordinary public school is free for a citizen's child, and cheap even without the waiver [5][6]. A high-quality public school and a foreign-curriculum international school both cost real money, at very different scales [7][2][3][4].

Aerial view of apartment blocks, houses and a highway in Hanoi

Is public school really free in Hanoi?

Only for a Vietnamese citizen's child, or a child of Vietnamese descent with unidentified nationality. The National Assembly waived public school tuition nationwide from the 2025 to 2026 school year for those two groups only, not for Vietnamese descent generally [5]. Hanoi's own People's Council still keeps a standard fee schedule for anyone the waiver does not reach [6].

Level	Ward rate, dong a month	Commune rate, dong a month
Preschool (nursery), upper secondary and continuing education [6].	217,000	95,000
Five-year-old kindergarten, primary and lower secondary [6].	155,000	75,000

Source: Giao Duc Viet Nam, report on Resolution 47/2025/NQ-HDND, passed 2025-11-13, checked 2026-09-22 [6].

A foreign passport does not automatically confirm which side of that waiver a child sits on. No source we read for this page states the answer either way, so treat it as a question for the specific school, not an assumption [5][6].

What is a Hanoi high-quality public school, and what does it cost?

It is a separate, state-run tier with its own fees, not an ordinary free public school. Hanoi's own People's Council sets fees for this tier under Resolution 58/2025/NQ-HDND [7]. The tier grew from 16 schools in 2025 to 35, reported in an August 2026 article [15].

School	Level	Monthly fee, dong
Mam Non 20-10 [7].	Preschool	5,100,000
Tieu Hoc Do Thi Sai Dong [7].	Primary, grades 1 to 2	5,500,000
THCS Cau Giay [7].	Lower secondary	3,300,000
THPT Phan Huy Chu, Dong Da [7].	Upper secondary, highest found	6,100,000
THPT Le Loi, standard class [7].	Upper secondary, lowest found	3,000,000

Source: Nguoi Ha Noi, report on Resolution 58/2025/NQ-HDND, passed 2025-11-27, checked 2026-09-22 [7].

Hanoi's own support payment for a student at one of these schools is only 155,000 to 217,000 dong a month, the same amount a regular public seat would have cost [6]. At the priciest school on our list, that support covers about 4 percent of the actual bill [7][6].

How much does an international school cost in Hanoi a year?

At the three schools we priced, BIS, BVIS and UNIS Hanoi, tuition runs from about 845 US dollars a month to roughly 3,323 [2][3][4][1]. That is not the whole city: iSchoolAdvisor's guide starts Hanoi's entry tier near 7,000 US dollars a year, about 583 a month [11][1].

School	Entry-level band, a year	Senior band, a year
BIS Hanoi [2].	Foundation 1: 343,100,000 dong	Year 12: 970,200,000 dong
BVIS Hanoi [3].	Foundation 1: 261,800,000 dong	Year 12: 661,500,000 dong
UNIS Hanoi [4].	Early Years 3 to 4: 17,460 USD	Grades 11 to 12: 39,870 USD

Source: each school's own 2026 to 2027 fee page, checked 2026-09-22 [2][3][4].

Which Hanoi international school costs the least?

BVIS Hanoi's Foundation 1 year, about 845 US dollars a month, is the lowest entry price among the three we checked [3][1]. BIS Hanoi's own Foundation 1 year costs more, near 1,107 US dollars a month [2][1].

Which Hanoi international school costs the most?

UNIS Hanoi's Grade 11 to 12 year, about 3,323 US dollars a month, is the highest figure we found at any of the three schools [4]. That is close to four times BVIS Hanoi's own entry-level price [4][3][1].

What does Hanoi school tuition cover, and what does it leave out?

The three schools do not match each other, so a sticker price alone can mislead a family. BIS Hanoi states its tuition includes uniforms, daily lunches and day trips [2].

BVIS Hanoi includes lunches and day trips too, but bills uniforms and its own school bus separately [3]. UNIS Hanoi prices lunches as an extra, never inside tuition [4].

What one-time fees hit before the first day?

Every school we checked charges something before day one, on top of first-year tuition. BIS Hanoi's application, registration and deposit add up to 98.9 million dong for a primary or secondary seat, about 3,829 US dollars [2][1].

School	One-time fees	Total
BIS Hanoi, primary and secondary [2].	Application 4,500,000; registration 70,800,000; deposit 23,600,000 dong	98,900,000 dong
BVIS Hanoi, primary and secondary [3].	Application 3,500,000; registration 70,800,000; deposit 35,400,000 dong	109,700,000 dong
UNIS Hanoi [4].	Application 600 USD; enrollment 1,750 USD	2,350 USD

Source: each school's own 2026 to 2027 fee page, checked 2026-09-22 [2][3][4].

UNIS Hanoi also asks for a tuition deposit, but its web page says 1,500 US dollars and its own fee PDF says 1,750, so we do not print either as confirmed [4]. Ask the admissions office for the current figure in writing.

What extra costs repeat every year on top of tuition?

A school bus is the biggest recurring add-on we found. UNIS Hanoi prices its own bus at 1,100 US dollars a year [4], and iSchoolAdvisor's own guide to Hanoi's international school sector puts the citywide range at 1,500 to 3,500 US dollars a year by zone [11].

Health insurance is not consistent either. BVIS Hanoi folds compulsory student health insurance into tuition [3], but BIS Hanoi's own list of what its tuition covers leaves it out [2], so ask UNIS Hanoi's admissions office directly. A national formula values a standard student premium at 563,220 dong a year, before whatever a specific school charges on top [13].

A city bus pass costs far less than any school's own bus fee. A student riding public transport with a priority pass pays 70,000 to 140,000 dong a month, against 140,000 to 280,000 for a non-priority rider [12][1].

Can a foreign passport child go to a Hanoi public school?

A guide to school enrollment in Vietnam says a foreign child can join as a self-financed student [14]. Anyone without Vietnamese proficiency reportedly completes a preparatory language course first [14].

We read that claim on a secondary source, not the circular's own text [14]. Confirm the current rule, and whether the fee waiver applies, directly with the specific school before you plan around it.

Is the advertised Hanoi lifestyle budget missing something?

Often, yes. We checked four advertised Hanoi budgets and found no school line in any of them [8][9][10].

Source	Monthly figure	School line?
Nomads.com, "Family" [8].	1,846 USD	None
This Is Vietnam, "Local Lifestyle" [9].	697 USD	None
This Is Vietnam, "Premium Lifestyle" [9].	1,355 USD	None
Citycost.org, family of three [10].	1,664 USD	None

Source: each guide's own Hanoi page, checked 2026-09-22 [8][9][10].

Add the cheapest named international school to the biggest of those figures and the number jumps hard. Nomads.com's 1,846 US dollar family total plus BVIS Hanoi's cheapest entry class, about 845 US dollars a month, comes to roughly 2,691 US dollars, a rise of about 46 percent [8][3][1].

That gap is the real reason a Hanoi cost of living for family total needs its own school line, not a shared guess. Our Hanoi cost of living calculator lets you add a specific school's own numbers to the rest of your monthly basket.

What is still unclear about Hanoi school fees?

Two questions do not have a clean answer yet. Whether a foreign passport child qualifies for Hanoi's tuition waiver or its support payment is not stated either way in any source we read [5][6].

Dan Tri reports some high-quality schools cut fees for 2026 to 2027, by 900,000 to 1,330,000 dong a month at named schools, under Resolution 93 [15]. We could not reach that resolution's full table to confirm the figures, so treat the table above as the 2025 to 2026 baseline, not this year's price.

For the rest of a Hanoi household's monthly numbers, from rent to groceries, our Hanoi cost of living guide lines them up with the same tariffs used here.

Not legal, tax or financial advice. We disclose any company we own or are paid by.

What we could not verify

Whether a foreign passport holder's child qualifies for Hanoi's national tuition waiver or its city support payment. The national resolution names Vietnamese citizens and persons of Vietnamese descent with unidentified nationality. Hanoi's own fee resolution defines coverage by school level and location in the text we read, not by nationality. Confirm your child's status with the school and a licensed adviser.
Whether Hanoi's high-quality public schools admit a foreign-passport child at all, and under what rule. No source opened for this page addresses eligibility for that tier by nationality.
Whether the 2026 to 2027 fee reductions reported at some named high-quality schools apply network-wide. We could not reach that resolution's own full fee table to confirm every school and level.
UNIS Hanoi's own tuition deposit. The school's web page states 1,500 US dollars and its own fee PDF states 1,750, so this page uses neither as a confirmed figure.
Whether a foreign child can be admitted to a specific Hanoi public school, and what Vietnamese-language level that school or the city's education department requires. Our only source describing a language condition is a secondary guide, not the underlying circular text.

Frequently asked questions

What is the full range of Hanoi international school tuition?

BIS Hanoi runs 343.1 million to 970.2 million dong a year [2]. BVIS Hanoi runs 261.8 million to 661.5 million [3]. UNIS Hanoi runs 17,460 to 39,870 US dollars, about 451 million to 1.03 billion dong at today's rate [4][1].

Do all children get free public school in Hanoi?

Only a Vietnamese citizen's child, or a Vietnamese-descent child with unidentified nationality, under the national waiver passed in June 2025 [5]. Without that waiver, Hanoi's own fee schedule charges 75,000 to 217,000 dong a month, by grade and by ward or commune [6]. No source we read states whether a foreign passport changes that answer.

How is a high-quality public school different from ordinary public school in Hanoi?

It is a separate, higher priced tier of state school that grew from 16 schools in 2025 to 35 [15], priced under its own city resolution [7]. Fees at the schools we checked ran 3 million to 6.1 million dong a month. The city's support covers only 155,000 to 217,000 of that [7][6].

Can a foreign passport holder's child get Hanoi's tuition waiver?

We could not confirm this either way. The national resolution names Vietnamese citizens and persons of Vietnamese descent with unidentified nationality as who it covers, and Hanoi's own fee resolution defines coverage by school level and location, not by nationality [5][6]. Ask the specific school and a licensed adviser before you count on it.

What is the cheapest Hanoi international school for a preschooler?

Of the three schools we checked, BVIS Hanoi's Foundation 1 year is lowest at 261.8 million dong a year, about 845 US dollars a month [3][1]. BIS Hanoi and UNIS Hanoi both start higher [2][4]. iSchoolAdvisor's guide puts other Hanoi schools as low as 7,000 US dollars a year, so cheaper options exist [11].

What is the highest published Hanoi international school fee?

Of our three, UNIS Hanoi's Grade 11 to 12 band is highest at 39,870 US dollars a year, about 3,323 dollars a month [4]. BIS Hanoi's Year 12 follows near 3,130 dollars monthly [2][1]. iSchoolAdvisor lists an upper tier of 22,000 to 35,000 US dollars or more, so this is no city maximum [11].

Does Hanoi international school tuition include lunch and uniforms?

BIS Hanoi's own tuition includes uniforms, daily lunches and day trips [2]. BVIS Hanoi includes lunches and day trips too, but bills uniforms and the school bus separately [3]. UNIS Hanoi prices lunches separately too, never folded into its own tuition [4].

How much are Hanoi international school application and deposit fees?

BIS Hanoi's application, registration and deposit add up to 98.9 million dong for a primary or secondary seat, about 3,829 US dollars [2][1]. BVIS Hanoi's equivalent total is higher, 109.7 million dong [3][1]. UNIS Hanoi charges a 600 dollar application fee plus a 1,750 dollar enrollment fee, before its own disputed deposit [4].

How much does a school bus cost in Hanoi?

UNIS Hanoi prices its own bus at 1,100 US dollars a year [4]. iSchoolAdvisor's own guide to Hanoi's international schools puts bus transport at 1,500 to 3,500 US dollars a year, by zone [11]. A city bus pass for a student costs 70,000 to 140,000 dong a month instead [12][1].

Is health insurance included in Hanoi school tuition?

At BVIS Hanoi, yes, compulsory student health insurance sits inside the published tuition [3]. BIS Hanoi's own list of what its tuition covers leaves it out [2]; ask UNIS Hanoi directly. A national formula values a standard student premium at 563,220 dong a year, before whatever a specific school charges on top [13].

Does a foreign child need to speak Vietnamese to enroll in public school?

A guide to school enrollment in Vietnam states a foreign child can join as a self-financed student, after a Vietnamese-language preparatory course for anyone without proficiency [14]. We read that claim on a secondary source, not the underlying circular's own text, so treat it as a starting point, not a confirmed rule for a specific school.

Does an advertised Hanoi cost of living for family include school fees?

Nomads.com's own Hanoi family total, 1,846 US dollars a month, carries no school line at all [8]. Two budget tiers on another guide, 697 and 1,355 US dollars a month, list rent, food and transport but never school [9]. A dated aggregator's family of three figure, 1,664 US dollars, matches that pattern [10].

Is 1,000 US dollars a month enough for a Hanoi family with a child in school?

Not once an international school is added. BVIS Hanoi's cheapest year alone runs close to 845 dollars monthly, which would swallow most of that budget on tuition [3][1]. At an ordinary public school, a waived child pays no tuition, and a household the waiver does not cover pays about 3 to 8 US dollars a month [5][6][1].

Sources

Vietcombank, published exchange rate feed, 2026-09-22. US dollar transfer rate 25,830 dong, feed stamp 23 September 2026, 05:43 Vietnam time.
British International School Hanoi, tuition and fees page, 2026-09-22. Annual tuition for 2026 to 2027 runs from 343,100,000 dong in Foundation 1 to 970,200,000 in Year 12, plus application, registration and deposit fees, and states what tuition includes.
British Vietnamese International School Hanoi, tuition and fees page, 2026-09-22. Annual tuition for 2026 to 2027 runs from 261,800,000 dong in Foundation 1 to 661,500,000 in Year 12, includes compulsory student health insurance, and bills uniforms and the bus separately.
United Nations International School of Hanoi, tuition and fees page, 2026-09-22. Annual tuition for 2026 to 2027 runs from 17,460 to 39,870 US dollars by grade band, plus a 600 dollar application fee, a 1,750 dollar enrollment fee and a 1,100 dollar a year bus fee.
VietnamNet, reporting the National Assembly's Resolution 217/2025/QH15, 2026-09-22. Resolution 217/2025/QH15, passed 26 June 2025, waives public school tuition from the 2025 to 2026 school year for Vietnamese citizens and persons of Vietnamese descent with unidentified nationality.
Giao Duc Viet Nam, report on Hanoi People's Council Resolution 47/2025/NQ-HDND, 2026-09-22. Passed 13 November 2025, Hanoi's regular public fee runs 217,000 dong a month in wards and 95,000 in communes for preschool, upper secondary and continuing education, 155,000 and 75,000 for kindergarten, primary and lower secondary, and sets a 155,000 to 217,000 dong support payment for private and high-quality public school students.
Nguoi Ha Noi, report on Hanoi People's Council Resolution 58/2025/NQ-HDND, 2026-09-22. Passed 27 November 2025, sets 2025 to 2026 tuition for named Hanoi high-quality public schools, from 3,000,000 to 6,100,000 dong a month depending on school and level.
Nomads.com, Hanoi cost of living page, 2026-09-22. Lists four monthly totals for Hanoi, Nomad 1,281 dollars, Expat 984, Family 1,846 and Local 527, with no separate school line among them.
This Is Vietnam, Hanoi living guide, 2026-09-22. Local Lifestyle and Premium Lifestyle monthly budgets total 18,000,000 and 35,000,000 dong, covering rent, utilities, food, transport and entertainment, with no school category.
Citycost.org, dated Hanoi cost index, 2026-09-22. Last updated 21 September 2026, lists a family of three total of 1,664 US dollars a month with rent, with no school line among its categories.
iSchoolAdvisor, Hanoi international school guide, 2026-09-22. Posted 25 May 2026, last reviewed September 2026, gives entry, mid and upper tuition tiers and states enrollment and bus costs add 10 to 20 percent on top of base tuition.
Vietnam Government Portal, report on Hanoi bus fares, 2026-09-22. Effective 1 November 2024, a student priority monthly bus pass costs 70,000 to 140,000 dong against 140,000 to 280,000 for a non-priority rider.
Vietnam Government Portal, explainer on start-of-year school fees, 2026-09-22. A national formula values student health insurance at 563,220 dong a year, and states uniforms carry no set fee under Circular 26/2009/TT-BGDDT.
Vietnam Teaching Jobs blog, school enrollment guide, 2026-09-22. States a foreign child can enroll as a self-financed student and describes a Vietnamese-language preparatory course for a child without proficiency.
Dan Tri, report on Hanoi high-quality public school fee cuts, 2026-09-22. Published 24 August 2026, states the high-quality public school tier grew from 16 schools in 2025 to 35, and reports fee cuts of 900,000 to 1,330,000 dong a month at named schools for 2026 to 2027 under a resolution it calls Resolution 93.