This article discusses the colonial education in Surabaya in 1901-1942. Education in Surabaya originated from traditional non formal education. After the Dutch Colonial Government (DCG) came to the Dutch East Indies, it introduced formal education system (there were levels of education). The research in this article uses the historical method, including the process of testing and analyzing events in the past. The establishment of Dutch schools in Surabaya had the regulatory developments as its background that the establishment of schools in the Dutch East Indies located in areas that are large ports and vast estates. In addition, Dutch children in Surabaya willing to study for Batavia needed quite large funds. Initially the education was only for children of the Dutch aristocracy, after the Ethical Policy indigenous children could go to school with the requirements of the descendants of the Dutch, parental income, and parental education.