When the Sandinistas came to power in 1979, they inherited an educational system that was one of the poorest in Latin America. Under the Somozas, limited spending on education and generalized poverty, which forced many adolescents into the labor market, constricted educational opportunities for Nicaraguans. In the late 1970s, only 65 % of primary school-age children were listed in school, and of those who entered first grade only 22 % completed the full six years of the primary school curriculum. Most rural schools offered only one or two years of schooling, and three-quarters of the rural population was illiterate. Few students listed in secondary school, in part because most secondary institutions were private and too expensive for the average family. By these standards, the 8 % of the college-age population listed in Nicaraguan universities seemed comparatively high. Less surprising was that upper-class families typically sent their children abroad for higher education.

Before 1980 educational opportunities in Nicaragua were limited and, in rural areas, often unavailable. Adult literacy in 1971 was only 57 %. In 1980 the Sandinista government launched a national literacy crusade, and spending on primary education more than doubled. Literacy rates climbed to 87 % by 1985, and by 1990 the government claimed that virtually all children of primary age were listed in school. The 1987 constitution declared primary education free and obligatory, and schools were accomplished in most rural areas.