VietNamNet Bridge - Both people-founded and state-owned universities are planning to raise tuition, causing concern among millions of Vietnamese students.

Sources said the Hanoi Foreign Trade University is awaiting the government’s approval on its operation reform plan.
 
If the plan gets the nod from the government, the school would exercise autonomy, under which it would raise funds to maintain its operation and would not ask for money from the State.

If so, the school would have to set up new tuition levels which need to be high enough to cover expenses.

The school plans to collect higher tuition from students starting from the 2015-2016 academic year. The expected tuition would be VND14.5 million per annum per student for the 2015-2016 academic year, while it would be VND16 million and VND17 million for the next years.

Of the schools which have adjusted the tuition scheme, the Hanoi Foreign Trade University set the highest tuition level.

The Economics University has revealed that its students will have to pay VND13.5 million a year, while the Finance & Marketing University plans to collect VND16.5 million a year.

The schools collect fees per credit, equal to VND6.5-9 million a year.

Studying at state-owned schools is the first choice of the majority of Vietnamese students. The schools, which receive funding from the State, only require students to pay low tuition to cover part of education costs.

However, as state-owned schools also attempt to raise tuition, experts say, students would have nowhere to go to minimize their university education costs. This means that poor students will have fewer opportunities to follow university education.

Hoang Minh Chau, president of Hanoi Foreign Trade University, tried to calm the public down by saying that the tuition hike “will affect students, but the effects will not be serious, because schools will have policies on supporting excellent but poor students”.

Meanwhile, Dr. Tu Huy Huu Nhat from the HCM City Economics University, said the tuition for students majoring in agricultural economics, political economics and economic development would be just 50 percent of the average level.

Also, according to Nhut, the school plans to offer 522 scholarships to outstanding and poor students.

As for Hanoi Foreign Trade University, Chau said about one percent of 3,500 students the school enrolls every year would enjoy preferential tuition.

Paying higher tuition for university education is unavoidable for students, because all schools will eventually operate under the autonomy model, sooner or later. 

Dr. Nguyen Truong Giang from the Ministry of Finance said that current ‘low-tuition policy’ will not help improve university training quality in Vietnam.

Ngoc Ha