Education in Burkina Faso is divided into primary, secondary and higher education.

However schooling is not free.
Secondary school costs approximately CFA 50,000 ($97 USD) per year, which is far above the means of most Burkinabè families.
Boys receive preference in schooling; as such, girls' education and literacy rates are far lower than their male counterparts.
An increase in girls' schooling has been observed due to the government's policy of making school cheaper for girls and granting them more scholarships.
In order to proceed from elementary to middle school, middle to high school or high school to college, national exams must be passed. Institutions of higher education include the University of Ouagadougou, The Polytechnical University in Bobo-Dioulasso and the University of Koudougou, which is also a teacher training institution.

There are private colleges in the capital city of Ouagadougou but these are affordable by only a small portion of the population.

There is also an International School of Ouagadougou (ISO), which is an American-based private school located in Ouagadougou.

The United Nations Development Program Report ranks Burkina Faso as the country with the lowest level of literacy in the world, despite a concerted effort to double its literacy rate from 12.8% in 1990 to 25.3% in 2008.