Universities in Vietnam commit high quality for their graduates

Universities in Vietnam tend to strive for international standards, including the AUN – QA (ASEAN University Network Quality Assurance) when designing and applying  training programs.

Pham Thai Son from the HCMC Food Industry University said that it was costly to have training programs accredited by international organizations, but it is a necessity. 

“Schools which want to play on the same playing field should apply the same standards. This will bring great benefits to students,” he said. “This will help reduce costs when students leave one school for another in the same accredited group.”

Son said that schools can make a profit if they spend big money on having their training programs accredited.

The first benefit is that schools have opportunities to standardize their management systems again in accordance with set standards.

Second, schools have opportunities to review and to outline better development programs for the future. 

As they can compare themselves with other schools in the system, they will know where they are in the system and what they should do to improve their current position.

Once schools have their training programs accredited, they will gain the confidence of students and businesses and have great opportunities for international integration.

The ‘quality culture’ will also serve as the driving force for organizations to develop.

Regarding jobs for university graduates, Son said this would be determined by employers and society’s needs.

However, the number of graduates finding jobs is very encouraging. A report from the HCMC Food Industry University released in 2017 showed that 83-92.5 percent of graduates found jobs immediately after graduation, while the figure was over 95 percent after one year.

As for tuition, the vice rector of the HCMC University of Science & Technology, Tran Thien Phuc, said that tuition is still determined by the State.

However, in general, the school and others all have intentions to ask for autonomy after having their training programs accredited. The autonomy will allow them to determine the tuition themselves. 

Phuc said it costs VND500-800 million to have one training program accredited and that schools have to pay an annual fee as well. But in return, graduates from the schools recognized as meeting AUN-QA or ABET standards are appreciated by employers.

Phuc said his school wants to have one to three training programs meeting ABET, AUN-QA, FIBBA or CTI standards each year.

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Thanh Lich