Business, management, humanities, mathematics and statistics lead PhD enrollment

Vietnam's higher education system divides doctoral training programs into seven main fields under regulations issued by the Ministry of Education and Training:

Field I: Education sciences and teacher training;

Field II: Arts;

Field III: Business and management, Law;

Field IV: Life sciences, Natural sciences;

Field V: Mathematics and statistics, Computer science and information technology, Engineering technology, Engineering, Manufacturing and processing, Architecture and construction, Agriculture, forestry and fisheries, Veterinary medicine;

Field VI: Health;

Field VII: Humanities, Social and behavioral sciences, Journalism and information, Social services, Hospitality, tourism, sports and personal services, Transport services, Environment, Security and national defense.

In the 2025-2026 academic year, the seven fields had a combined 16,777 PhD students. Field III led with 4,510, followed by Field VII with 4,045 and Field V with 3,422.

Data on doctoral enrollment by field show that Field III had the largest number of PhD students in 2025-2026, at 4,510. It also recorded strong growth, rising from 2,310 students in the 2022-2023 academic year to 4,510 four years later.

Field VII ranked second with 4,045 students, accounting for about 24% of the total number of PhD students. Its enrollment also more than doubled from 2,007 in 2022-2023.

Field V ranked third with 3,422 students, up from 1,912 four years earlier.

Together, Fields III, VII and V accounted for 11,977 PhD students, or more than 71% of the total across all seven fields.

Field VI also recorded a significant increase in doctoral enrollment. The number rose from 937 students in 2022-2023 to 2,204 in 2025-2026, an increase of about 135%.

Meanwhile, Field I had 1,541 students, more than double the 682 recorded in 2022-2023.

Field IV had 914 students, down from 1,139 in the previous academic year. It was the only field to see a decline in enrollment in 2025-2026.

At the bottom of the table was Field II, with 141 PhD students, although that was still an increase from 80 in 2022-2023.

Overall, the number of PhD students across the seven fields rose from 8,606 in the 2022-2023 academic year to 16,777 in 2025-2026, nearly doubling over four years. The figures show that doctoral education remains heavily concentrated in several fields, with Fields III, VII and V accounting for the majority of PhD students.

PhD admission quotas rise sharply, but thousands of places remain unfilled

For three consecutive years, the number of people entering doctoral programs at higher education institutions has remained well below the available admission quotas. Although the fulfillment rate rose from 47.16% to 62.61%, nearly 3,400 places were still unfilled in the 2025-2026 academic year.

Figures from the past three academic years show that the proportion of doctoral admission quotas being filled has been rising, but a substantial gap remains between the number of available places and actual enrollment.

In the 2023-2024 academic year, higher education institutions were allocated 7,158 PhD admission places, but only 3,376 were filled, equivalent to 47.16%.

In 2024-2025, the quota fell slightly to 7,068, while actual enrollment increased to 4,077, lifting the fulfillment rate to 57.68%.

By 2025-2026, the doctoral admission quota had risen sharply to 9,083 places, with 5,687 filled, equivalent to 62.61%.

Over the three-year period, the quota fulfillment rate therefore increased by more than 15 percentage points, from 47.16% to 62.61%. However, of the 9,083 doctoral places available in 2025-2026, 3,396 remained unfilled, equivalent to 37.39%.

Le Huyen