The University Exit Exam Now Costs 2,000 Birr, Up From 750

The fee for Ethiopia's university exit exam has risen from 750 birr to 2,000 birr, under a new regulation covering payments for services provided through educational assessment and testing.

The new charge is split into 500 birr of registration and 1,500 birr for the exam itself. Foreign candidates pay 100 dollars.

The rest of the schedule moved with it

The regulation resets several other charges at the same time:

• Postgraduate entrance test (NGAT): 3,500 birr for Ethiopians — 500 birr registration and 3,000 birr for the exam. Foreigners pay 100 dollars.
• Grade 12 exam registration: 950 birr for Ethiopians; 100 dollars for foreigners.
• Professional licensing and qualification assessment: 3,500 birr for Ethiopians.

Taken together these are the gates between an Ethiopian student and a degree, a postgraduate place, or a licence to practise — and all of them have been repriced at once.

What it costs a household

A student sitting the exit exam and then the postgraduate entrance test now faces 5,500 birr before any tuition, up from a figure that was under 2,000 birr for the exit exam alone at the old rate. For a graduate entering a professional field that also requires licensing, add another 3,500 birr.

The dollar-denominated rate for foreign candidates is the more interesting line for the sector. Pricing foreign test-takers in hard currency turns the assessment system into a small foreign-currency earner, which is consistent with the direction of travel across state services this year. Whether the volumes make that meaningful is a different question.

Open

The regulation has not been published in full alongside the fee list, and no effective date has been attached to the figures in circulation. There is no statement on whether fee waivers or reductions exist for students who cannot pay, what the new revenue is earmarked for, or whether candidates who registered under the old schedule will be charged the old rate.

Sources: Tikvah Ethiopia, 27 September 2026