Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training has released a draft circular on Higher Education Institution Standards for public consultation.

According to the ministry, the draft is intended to replace Circular No. 01/2024/TT-BGDDT. The proposed standards will serve as a basis for planning and evaluating the higher education network, supporting investment in key institutions and internationally accredited universities, and providing criteria for licensing, revoking operating licenses and suspending admissions at institutions that fail to meet required conditions.

The ministry said the standards are also designed to promote university autonomy and improve educational quality while enhancing transparency regarding quality assurance conditions. In addition, they will provide a framework for institutions to conduct self-assessments, monitor performance and fulfill accountability obligations to regulators and society.

The draft introduces six standards and 19 criteria for higher education institutions.

Standard 1: Organization and governance

Internal governance regulations and institutional documents must be issued in full and by the appropriate authority.

Institutional missions and development strategies must be implemented and monitored through key performance indicators, with at least 50% of those indicators showing annual improvement.

Data on students, quality assurance conditions and institutional performance must be integrated, regularly updated and accurately maintained through the national Higher Education Management Information System (HEMIS).

Standard 2: Faculty

The ratio of students to faculty members must not exceed 40 to one.

Full-time lecturers within working age must account for at least 70% of the total teaching staff.

Minimum doctoral qualification requirements for faculty members are proposed as follows:

For institutions that do not offer doctoral programs, at least 20% of lecturers must hold doctoral degrees, rising to 30% from 2030.

For institutions offering specialized disciplines that do not provide doctoral training, the minimum requirement is 5%, increasing to 10% from 2030.

For institutions that provide doctoral education, at least 40% of lecturers must hold doctoral degrees, rising to 50% from 2030.

For specialized institutions that offer doctoral programs, the minimum requirement is 10%, increasing to 15% from 2030.

Standard 3: Facilities and infrastructure

From 2030, average land area per full-time equivalent student must be no less than 25 square meters.

Teaching facilities must provide at least 2.8 square meters of floor space per student, while at least 70% of lecturers must be allocated individual workspace.

Libraries and learning resources must fully support all academic programs, with 100% coverage. At least 60% of lecturers and students must regularly access and use learning resources.

Institutions must operate digital learning systems accessible to all lecturers and students. At least 90% of students must actively use the system during each academic year.

Standard 4: Finance

Operating margins, measured as the difference between revenue and expenditure relative to total revenue, must remain non-negative on average over the previous three years.

Institutions must maintain stable and sustainable financial growth while diversifying revenue sources to support teaching, research, innovation and development. Average growth rates must remain non-negative across three consecutive years.

Standard 5: Admissions and training

Average enrollment over the previous three years must reach at least 50% of announced admission targets. Overall enrollment scale must not decline by more than 30% compared with three years earlier.

Student dropout rates must not exceed 10%, while first-year dropout rates must remain below 15%.

At least 60% of students must complete their programs within no more than 1.5 times the standard duration. Of these, at least 40% must graduate on time.

Student satisfaction with teaching quality and effectiveness must reach at least 70%. The same minimum threshold applies to graduate satisfaction with their overall learning experience.

At least 70% of graduates must secure employment relevant to their field of study, become self-employed or continue further education within 12 months of graduation.

Standard 6: Science, technology and innovation

For institutions offering doctoral programs, income from science and technology activities, weighted by disciplinary field, must account for at least 5% of total revenue on average over the previous three years.

Average scientific output must reach at least 0.3 publications per lecturer annually. For institutions with doctoral programs, excluding specialized institutions, the minimum requirement is 0.6 publications per lecturer per year, including at least 0.3 papers indexed in Web of Science or Scopus.

The draft also introduces, for the first time, specialized indicators for higher education institutions operating in the fields of law and health sciences.

Thanh Hung