College tuition fees increase drastically in 2022

According to the Government’s Decree No. 81/2021/ND-CP on the mechanism of collection and management of tuition fees for educational institutions in the national education system and the policy of tuition fee exemption and reduction and support for study expenses taking effect from October 15, 2022. Tuition fees for the 2021-2022 school year at all grades will not exceed the 2020-2021 tuition fee bracket ceiling.

From the academic year 2022 onwards, the new tuition fees will apply according to Decree 81. The tuition ceiling for mass training programs at public higher education institutions that have not yet been able to cover their expenses will be applied in each major.

Specifically, from the school year 2022, the tuition fee for science education and teacher training will be VND12.5 million a year, an increase of VND2.7 million while art major will be VND12 million a year, a surge of VND0.3 million, for business and management majors will be VND 12.5 million a year, an increase of VND2.7 million.

Tuition fee for life sciences, natural sciences will be VND13.5 million annually, increasing by VND0.8 million while math and statistics, computer and IT, technical technology majors will be VND14.5 million a year, a rise of VND2.8 million. The tutition fee for medical and pharmaceutical major will be VND24.5 million a year, increasing by VND10.2 million and other health majors will see it raise to VND18.5 million a year, an increase of VND4.2 million. Finally, the tuition fee of humanities, social and behavioral sciences, journalism and information, social services majors will be VND12 million per year, an increase of VND2.2 million.

Thus, compared to 2021, seven majors of higher education institutions that have still received financial support from the government will increase from VND0.3 million to VND10.2 million a year. Amongst them, the medicine and pharmaceutical, and other health majors have seen the biggest increase of VND4.2 million - VND20.2 million a year.

Meanwhile self-financed public higher education institutions have determined their tuition fee to be as double as ceiling fee for non-autonomous institutions. For fully autonomous public higher education institutions, the tuition fee level is determined to be a maximum of 2.5 times the tuition fee ceiling for non-autonomous schools. Meanwhile, the tuition fee ceiling for master's and doctoral training in public higher education institutions is determined to be 1.5-2.5 times higher than university tuition fees.

In addition, the Decree 81 also stipulates the tuition fees for different types of training, programs, and training institutions that meet domestic and international quality accreditation standards. Along with that, in the enrollment scheme for 2022, many universities including non-autonomous public and autonomous public universities to private universities have announced the newly adjusted tuition fees.

Simultaneously, many public and private universities have also announced tuition fee exemption and reduction policies and offered many different scholarship programs. Head of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities’ Communication and Business Relations Department Tran Nam said that the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City has approved the university's autonomy project and from 2022, the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City will support 35 percent of tuition fees for the University of Social Sciences and Humanities’ training majors including Humanities and Social Sciences group, Language major. Moreover, the school has scholarships to support disadvantaged students through programs such as study promotion - talent promotion scholarships, business scholarships, alumni scholarships, official scholarships. government books yearly.

Professor Nguyen Minh Ha, Rector of the Autonomous School of Ho Chi Minh City Open University, said that the Decree 81 stipulates quite clearly about different types of training, especially training facilities that meet accreditation standards. He revealed in 2022, the school's tuition fee will increase, but will not increase too much for fear that the new high tuition fee will affect learners. He added that tuition fees increase or not, in the current context, schools should mobilize all resources to support learners to reduce the burden of study costs.

Associate Professor Nguyen Dinh Tu, Director of the National University Development Fund in Ho Chi Minh City, also acknowledged that established from 2020 until now, the fund has given nearly 200 interest-free student loans. This program is implemented by the Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City in collaboration with banks to support disadvantaged students to cover part of the cost during their studies.

Each student can borrow up to VND20 million a semester. Under the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic whereas self-financed schools tend to increase tuition fees, students from low-income families find it difficult to continue pursuit of their studies. Schools should thus have more policies to support students.

Representatives of many autonomous schools said that at present, more and more autonomous schools will be established; accordingly, tuition fees will increase to cover training costs. The tuition fee hike will cause anxiety among learners as well as society. However, according to autonomous schools, higher tuition fees help to improve training quality significantly through international publication, quality accreditation as well as university ranking, investment in facilities, materials, and reforming training programs. At least 8 percent of tuition revenue to set up scholarships and support funds for students as per schools’ commitment.