AZE.US
Questions around tuition payments at universities in Azerbaijan have come back into focus, especially for families trying to understand who can study free of charge and which groups are still covered by the state.
Azerbaijan currently has 51 higher education institutions, including 40 state universities and 11 private ones. More than 100,000 students are enrolled across the country. One of the main dividing lines in the system is whether a student is admitted under a state-funded quota or on a paid basis.
Students admitted under the state order do not pay tuition themselves. Their education is financed from the state budget. These places are allocated by the government for specific majors and faculties.
For students studying on a paid basis, the rules are different. Still, Azerbaijani legislation provides exemptions for some socially vulnerable groups, whose tuition can also be covered by the state.
Among those groups are people who hold the status of internally displaced persons. Under the current legal framework, their tuition fees may be paid from the state budget.
The issue is attracting renewed attention as more former displaced residents return to their home regions after the restoration of Azerbaijani control over previously occupied territories. According to the figures cited in the report, the number of returnees has already exceeded 30,000.
For now, the existing rules remain in force, meaning students who still have internally displaced status continue to benefit from tuition support. But that may not remain unchanged forever.
As the return process expands, the legal status of internally displaced persons and the social benefits tied to it could be reviewed step by step under the law. That raises the possibility that tuition rules for some students now receiving state support may eventually change.
The Ministry of Science and Education said that, under current legislation, tuition fees for persons in need of special social protection are paid from the state budget. That category includes people officially recognized as internally displaced under Azerbaijani law.
For many families, this means the debate is no longer just about university fees. It is also about whether existing social guarantees will stay in place as the country moves into a new post-conflict phase.