The figures were released by the Ministry of Education and Training at the 2026 Higher Education Conference on Oct. 1.

Statistics show a significant shift in the qualifications of Vietnam’s university teaching workforce between 2022 and 2026. The total number of lecturers rose from 86,048 in 2022 to 95,198 in 2026, an increase of more than 9,100, or about 10.6%.

Number of PhD-qualified lecturers rises by more than 8,000 in four years

Notably, the numbers of lecturers holding doctoral degrees and the academic titles of professor and associate professor all increased.

In 2022, Vietnam had 760 professors with PhDs. By 2026, the figure had risen by 112 to 872. The number of associate professors with PhDs increased from 5,331 to 6,833, adding more than 1,500 over four years.

Meanwhile, the number of lecturers with doctoral degrees climbed sharply from 21,170 in 2022 to 29,454 in 2026, an increase of more than 8,200, or about 39%.

The number of lecturers with master’s degrees also rose, from 51,302 to 55,116. By contrast, those whose highest qualification was a bachelor’s degree fell significantly, from 6,175 in 2022 to 2,923 in 2026.

The figures indicate that the composition of Vietnam’s university teaching workforce is shifting toward a greater share of lecturers with postgraduate qualifications, particularly doctoral degrees.

Data from the 2023-2024 to 2025-2026 academic years also show that the proportion of lecturers with PhDs continued to rise. It increased from 32.6% in 2023-2024 to 34.4% in 2024-2025 and 36.3% in 2025-2026, a gain of 3.7 percentage points over two years.

However, as the number and qualifications of lecturers have increased, so too has the number of students per full-time lecturer.

The ratio rose from 24.3 students per lecturer in the 2023-2024 academic year to 29.6 in 2024-2025 and 30.1 in 2025-2026.

This indicates that student numbers are growing faster than the number of full-time lecturers, creating pressure to further expand the teaching workforce while maintaining quality and ensuring a sufficient proportion of highly qualified lecturers at higher education institutions.

The Ministry of Education and Training said the quality of university teaching staff continues to improve, as reflected most clearly in the growing proportion of full-time lecturers with doctoral degrees.

Alongside efforts to raise the proportion of PhD holders, universities are also developing a more flexible staffing structure that goes beyond traditional permanent positions to include jointly appointed lecturers, full-time contract lecturers who have reached retirement age, visiting lecturers and experts.

Number of students per lecturer continues to rise

The ministry, however, said an increase in the proportion of PhD-qualified lecturers must be accompanied by genuine productivity and professional capability.

Performance is assessed through measures including full-time-equivalent workloads, postgraduate supervision, scientific publications and technology-transfer outputs.

University autonomy has been seen as giving higher education institutions greater flexibility to recruit, train and develop lecturers with doctoral qualifications suited to the needs of individual disciplines.

Under Circular 34/2026/TT-BGDDT, enrollment capacity is determined based on the number and qualifications of lecturers as well as other quality assurance conditions. Enrollment growth therefore also requires universities to continue expanding their teaching staff.

A government project to strengthen the capacity of lecturers and education managers under Decision 89/QD-TTg remains underway.

In particular, Circular 50/2026/TT-BGDDT, issued on June 30, 2026, provides guidance on doctoral and master’s training for lecturers, giving universities an additional framework for organizing training programs in the new academic year.

The Ministry of Education and Training has asked higher education institutions to prioritize the training and recruitment of PhD holders in disciplines facing shortages, while aligning workforce development with teaching demand and research capacity.

Beyond academic qualifications, universities are also placing greater emphasis on improving lecturers’ information technology and digital transformation skills to enhance operational effectiveness.

Le Huyen