Studying in Asunción and Its Surroundings: A Guide to Universities, Schools, and Kindergartens

Moving with children to Asunción or its metropolitan area almost always brings up the same question before any other: where will they study? The Paraguayan education system has its own logic —levels, types of management, tuition fees— that's worth understanding before choosing an institution. This guide reviews how the system works in general terms and then organizes, by category, some of the universities, schools, and kindergartens in Greater Asunción.

Overview of the Paraguayan education system

The Ministerio de Educación y Ciencias (MEC) is the governing body of the system: it sets the national curriculum at every level, administers public education, and pays the salaries of public-school teachers. It was created in 1943 and took its current name in 2017; before that it was called the Ministerio de Educación y Cultura.

The four levels

• Early Childhood Education (Educación Inicial): nursery, pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and preschool, up to roughly age 5-6. This is the reference level for kindergartens.
• Basic School Education (Educación Escolar Básica, EEB): compulsory, lasts 9 years (1st through 9th grade, roughly between ages 6 and 14-15) and is divided into three cycles of three years each.
• Secondary Education (Educación Media / Bachillerato): 3 years (1st, 2nd, and 3rd year), with scientific and technical tracks, up to age 17-18.
• Higher Education (Educación Superior): universities and professional training institutes. Paraguay has 53 recognized universities, 8 public/national and 45 private.

Public, subsidized, and private: what each one means

When it comes to choosing a school for the kids, three types of management coexist in Paraguay:

• Public schools: fully funded by the State through the MEC, with free enrollment. They are, by far, the most numerous in the country.
• Subsidized schools: privately run —often linked to religious congregations or other nonprofit organizations— but with the MEC covering all or part of teachers' salaries. Families usually pay a reduced fee compared to a fully private school.
• Private schools: entirely privately funded; each institution sets its own tuition, and the MEC limits itself to registering the school and overseeing curricular compliance. This is the category where most of the bilingual and international schools that foreign families tend to look for are found.

It's worth keeping this in mind because the range of fees between one school and another can be very wide: local media have reported monthly fees ranging from around G. 250.000 at more affordable institutions to G. 4-5 million or more at high-end international schools, and in several cases there's also an upfront enrollment fee that can exceed G. 30 million at the most in-demand schools. These are indicative figures published in the press, not an official tariff: each school sets its own amounts, and it's always worth confirming them directly with the institution before making a decision.

Universities in Asunción and the surrounding area

Higher education in Paraguay is regulated by CONES (Consejo Nacional de Educación Superior), which accredits degree programs, authorizes institutions, and recognizes foreign degrees, although it doesn't set tuition fees: each university decides that on its own. Among the options in Greater Asunción:

• Universidad Nacional de Asunción (UNA), the country's main public university. Despite being state-run, it isn't entirely free: it charges its own fees (enrollment, installments, and other academic services), although these are generally lower than those of private universities.
• Universidad Católica Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (UC), founded in 1960: undergraduate and graduate programs (specialization, master's, doctorate), with an exchange program
• Universidad Americana, founded in 1994: in-person and online undergraduate and graduate programs, with an exchange program
• Universidad Autónoma de Asunción (UAA), founded in 1991: in-person and virtual undergraduate programs, graduate studies up to postdoctoral level
• Universidad del Norte (UNINORTE), founded in 1991: in-person and distance undergraduate programs, with graduate specializations
• Universidad del Pacífico, founded in 1991: degrees such as Medicine, Dentistry and Business Administration, plus graduate programs
• Universidad Columbia del Paraguay, founded in 1943: over 16 undergraduate programs, in-person and distance, with graduate studies

As with the school level, each private university sets its own enrollment fee and periodic installments, so it's worth requesting that information directly from the institution of interest before enrolling.

Bilingual schools and schools with exchange programs

For foreign families, the most common option tends to be a bilingual school or one with an international tradition, many of them linked to educational networks or communities from other countries. Greater Asunción has several alternatives of this kind:

• American School of Asunción (ASA), with a US tradition: bilingual, Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12, US curriculum plus MEC diploma
• Colegio Goethe (Deutsche Schule Asunción), with a German tradition: German-Spanish bilingual, with the Bilingual International Baccalaureate (GIB) and DSD
• Scuola Italiana Dante Alighieri (Sociedad Dante Alighieri), with an Italian tradition: Italian-Spanish bilingual, preschool through secondary in three cycles
• Colegio Internacional SEK Paraguay, part of an international school network: bilingual, preschool through secondary, with an International Baccalaureate (IB) option
• Pan American International School (PAIS): from Kinder 3 to Grade 12, in Luque
• Trinity School: Spanish-English bilingual, preschool through 12th grade, in Luque
• Liberty School, in San Lorenzo: bilingual, preschool through a Science Baccalaureate with an Arts and Humanities focus
• Lycée Français International Marcel Pagnol, with a French tradition, following the French educational system through the Baccalauréat
• Albert Einstein School, with an English-based curriculum (preschool and basic education levels)

Schools of this type usually require an interview with parents and students, and in some cases an admission exam, in addition to having the highest monthly fees and enrollment fees in the Paraguayan education market, according to reports from local media. It's worth looking into the admission process well in advance, since in several cases there's a waiting list.

General schools

Alongside the internationally-oriented bilingual offering, Greater Asunción also has private schools with a more local track record, oriented toward the national curriculum:

• Colegio Iberoamericano (IBERO), founded in 1971: bilingual, preschool through Bachillerato, with technical specializations
• Colegio Internacional, founded in 1920: bilingual, preschool through Bachillerato under the MEC curriculum

These tend to be an alternative worth considering when the family's priority is the Paraguayan curriculum, with fees that are generally more affordable than those of high-end international schools.

Kindergartens

Early childhood education (nursery, pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and preschool) is, in many cases, the entry point into the same school where the children will later attend Basic School Education (Educación Escolar Básica). Among the options in Greater Asunción with an early-childhood level:

• Colegio Internacional (Asunción)
• The American School of Asunción
• Colegio Goethe (Deutsche Schule Asunción)
• Colegio Internacional SEK Paraguay
• Centro Educativo Internacional (CEI, Villarrica): from Toddler through a science-track Bachillerato
• COMENZAR - Núcleo de Desarrollo Infantil: Toddler through Preschool levels
• La Casita de Nuna - Centro Educativo Nro. 8165: from 4 months to 4 years old
• Jardín de Infantes El Trencito: preschool and kindergarten level
• Lycée Français International Marcel Pagnol
• Albert Einstein School

Starting at the kindergarten of a school that also offers primary and secondary education has a practical advantage: if the experience is good, the family can continue at the same institution throughout the child's entire school career, without having to go through admission processes again later on.

Some practical tips

• Always ask for the full fee schedule in writing: enrollment fee, monthly tuition, and any additional charges (materials, insurance, extracurricular activities).
• Check admission timelines well in advance; the most in-demand bilingual schools often have processes that take several months and, in some cases, a waiting list.
• Check which cycle of Basic School Education or Secondary Education your child would enter based on their age and prior schooling, since equivalencies between education systems can vary.
• If you're going to choose a university, ask the institution directly about current tuition fees and the process for recognizing prior coursework if your child is coming with credits from another country.

The Paraguayan education system offers a wide range of options, from free public education to high-profile international schools, including privately-run subsidized institutions along the way. Knowing these differences from the outset helps you choose, with more peace of mind, the institution that best fits your family.