College Tuition Matrix

TP - University tuition fees have recently fluctuated, leading to many cases where students accidentally chose majors with high tuition fees, forcing schools to step in to provide support.

Suffering from not choosing a major based on your budget

The head of the training department of a large university in Hanoi said that there were several cases of students choosing majors with high tuition fees in the past school year. When enrolling, students were not eligible for scholarships, while their families' finances were tight, and students had no chance to apply to other schools. In this case, the school called on organizations, individuals, and teachers in the school to join hands to help. However, the support is only a short-term solution, and in the 2-3 years ahead, students themselves do not know how they will face the problem of paying tuition fees.

The leader said that the school has supported the introduction of some suitable jobs in the library, helping new students earn extra living expenses. In addition, students also find part-time jobs outside. “Worrying about the economy will greatly affect students’ learning outcomes. Not graduating on time, prolonging study time, economic losses, and time cannot be measured for each student,” he said.

Candidates participating in the talent selection method of Hanoi University of Science and Technology on the morning of June 22. Photo: Nghiem Hue

Public university tuition fees are currently increasing annually according to the Government 's roadmap. This year, public schools are not yet autonomous, tuition fees for majors range from 1.7 million VND/month/student to 3.5 million VND/month/student, higher than in 2024 from 190,000 VND to 390,000 VND/month.

For partially autonomous schools, tuition fees are determined to be a maximum of 2 times the tuition ceiling above, corresponding to each major, ranging from 3.4 million VND to 7 million VND/month. For fully autonomous schools, tuition fees are determined to be a maximum of 2.5 times the tuition ceiling for non-autonomous schools, ranging from nearly 4.3 million VND to 8.7 million VND/month.

This is the tuition fee for the standard program (mass program). Currently, schools have many training programs, corresponding to different tuition fees. For example, the University of Commerce, the tuition fee for the standard program is from 24-27.9 million VND/year/student, the tuition fee for the business administration program, international dual degree, advanced is from 38.5-65 million VND/year/student. Vietnam Women's Academy, standard program, tuition fee is 14.4-16.5 million VND/school year, the program taught in English is 26.8 million VND/year.

Thus, at the same school, tuition fees between programs vary from 10 million VND/year to 20 - 30 million VND/year.

Dr. Ngo Quoc Trinh, Head of Training Department, University of Transport Technology, said that candidates should learn about tuition fees when choosing a major. With the current tuition fee matrix of training programs, Mr. Trinh said that candidates need to pay attention to the tuition fee increase roadmap at autonomous schools to proactively prepare finances for 3-4 years of university study. At the same time, candidates need to learn about the scholarship policy, credit policy for students of each school; compare tuition fees and programs between schools; and part-time job opportunities around the area where the school is located.

According to the report of the Ministry of Education and Training, the budget expenditure for higher education in 2013 was VND19,271 billion, equivalent to 0.43% of GDP and 9.3% of total budget expenditure for education and training. By 2022, this expenditure will decrease to more than VND10,000 billion, accounting for 0.11% of GDP and 3.4% of total state budget expenditure for education and training.

When tuition is the "main breadwinner"

It is noted that the trend of university autonomy is taking place strongly. In the near future, the number of public universities that are not autonomous will decrease, the opportunity to study at university with low tuition fees will become increasingly narrow, not to mention that universities that are not autonomous also have many high-quality programs, joint programs, etc.

According to the report of the Ministry of Education and Training, the budget expenditure for higher education in 2013 was VND19,271 billion, equivalent to 0.43% of GDP and 9.3% of total budget expenditure for education and training. By 2022, this expenditure will decrease to more than VND10,000 billion, accounting for 0.11% of GDP and 3.4% of total state budget expenditure for education and training.

The report also stated that the average ratio of expenditure on higher education to education and training budget in middle-income countries is 18%, and in high-income countries is 23%. Thus, in Vietnam, the state budget for higher education is very low compared to other countries in the region and the world, while the mobilization of resources from society is still limited. It can be said that after 10 years, the budget for higher education has decreased in both absolute and relative values, while the state budget for education has stabilized at around 20%.

Minister Nguyen Kim Son affirmed that this is a reality. The budget for investment in university education in the past 10 years has been adjusted and changed in a decreasing direction due to the strong implementation of the university autonomy trend. When schools are approved for autonomy, their regular expenditure support budget is immediately cut. Therefore, over time, the number of autonomous schools has increased, and the higher the level of autonomy, the more the State's financial support has decreased.

Minister Nguyen Kim Son said that in recent years, the total financial resources for the operation of educational institutions from many sources have increased but are still low. Most schools rely on tuition fees, so they have little ability and potential to reinvest in facilities and technical infrastructure in a synchronous manner. The implementation of autonomy has conditions on accreditation, finance and the implementation of the roadmap for calculating public service prices, which is not enough to cover training costs.

NGHIEM HUE

Source: https://tienphong.vn/ma-tran-hoc-phi-dai-hoc-post1753509.tpo