How to Finance Global Education Programs

A Resource for Sustainably Financing Global Education Programs

Part of a series to assist USAID education staff and partners with integrating four critical, cross-cutting areas into USAID education projects and activities—disability, gender, education finance, and information and communication technology for education (ICT4E)—this How-To Note focuses on sustainably building and financing quality education. This document provides guidance on how to further USAID’s goal of creating sustainable education finance and support the sustainability of local systems—both public and private—to enable them to provide education in the present and in the future. 

Partner country education systems are strained under the pressure of scarce financial resources, demographic changes, and growing enrollments, and these pressures will only grow with time. The Education Commission estimates that low- and middle-income countries will require $3 trillion in annual education spending by 2030—a gap of $1.8 trillion from current spending. Additional financial resources and more effective use of these resources are critical to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”