Education funds refer to the expenditures actually used for education in the financial budgets of the central and local financial departments. Education funds include education funds (that is, personnel funds and public funds of various schools at all levels) and education capital investment (the cost of building school buildings and purchasing large-scale teaching equipment). Education funds are paid in the form of money, which is an indispensable capital condition for running a school. In China, education funds mainly refer to the expenditure of the state for the development of education at all levels.

National financial education funds include public financial education funds, education taxes and fees collected by governments at all levels, school-running funds of enterprises, education funds of school-run industries and social services, and other national financial education funds.

Education funds in financial budget: refers to the education funds arranged and allocated by the central and local governments at all levels or higher levels to schools, educational administrative units and educational institutions at all levels this year, which are included in the national budget expenditure.

Budgetary education expenditure refers to the expenditure of the state for the development of various social education undertakings, especially compulsory education undertakings, which mainly includes: appropriations for state-owned primary and secondary schools, subsidies for state-owned higher and secondary specialized schools, and scholarships and grants for some students.