20% tuition increase makes students angry, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education speaks out

Many students were upset when Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education announced that the tuition fee for the standard program for new students of the 2023 class ranges from 13 to 16.25 million VND/semester (an increase of about 20% compared to last year). Most students said that in the current context, other universities do not increase or only increase by 7-10% compared to last year, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education has set tuition fees that are too high, becoming a big burden for students.

The school also announced that tuition fees for the remaining courses range from 693,000 - 827,000 VND/credit (last year each credit was about 555,000 to 652,000 VND).

Immediately after that, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education had to organize a meeting with students to discuss this tuition increase.

Notice of tuition increase of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education.

According to a representative of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education, the tuition fee for the 2023 enrollment period was announced by the school in the enrollment plan in May 2023. However, the school has not collected it since then because it is still waiting for the conclusion of the Government and the guidance of the Ministry of Education and Training on amending Decree 81. For the high-quality program, the school will keep the old tuition fee of 28 - 46 million VND per year, as committed.

Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education is fully autonomous (regular and investment expenses) and will comply with regulations if tuition fees increase. The school currently determines that the cost of training a student in the Engineering major is 29 million VND/year. This cost for an economics student is about 26 million VND. Thus, the tuition fee for new students of the 2023 class is equivalent to the training cost.

"In previous years, the school collected low tuition fees because it had not yet developed a project to set economic and technical standards. Currently, the school has determined the training costs for each student according to each profession, so it must collect the correct amount to cover the costs," the representative stated.

The school also analyzed that after two or three years of not increasing tuition fees, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education encountered many difficulties in investing and upgrading teaching equipment, laboratories, workshops, and operating costs. The school applied many methods from calling for support, mobilizing business resources to equip the laboratory system, practice rooms, and air conditioning in classrooms.

In the technical sector in general, the tuition fee of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education is still lower than other schools. Students must also determine that university is an opportunity, university tuition is an investment for the future.

This representative affirmed: “The tuition fee announced above is the fee determined on the basis of the Technical Economic Project approved by the School Council. In the coming time, when the Government and the Ministry of Education and Training have an official document regulating the tuition fee for the 2023-2024 school year, the school will adjust it in accordance with the regulations.”

To prepare for the tuition increase plan, the school plans to set up a student support fund from many sources, with an amount of more than 50 billion VND to support disadvantaged students (an increase of about 60% compared to last year).

Students with difficult circumstances who have local confirmation of their circumstances are considered for hardship allowances each semester. Other students with sudden difficult circumstances can also contact the school to meet directly with school leaders, present their circumstances and be considered for resolution and support with the view that no student has to stop studying or drop out of school because they cannot pay tuition.

Previously, the Ministry of Education and Training submitted to the Government a draft to amend and supplement a number of articles of Decree 81 on tuition fees. According to the draft, preschool, general education, and university tuition fees for the 2023-2024 school year will apply the ceiling level of the 2022-2023 school year, which is one year later than the tuition fee increase roadmap set out in Decree 81.
If this plan is approved, the tuition ceiling for public universities that are not self-sufficient in regular expenses next school year will be 1.2-2.45 million VND per month, depending on the major, instead of 1.35-2.76 million VND. The current fee is 980 thousand to 1.43 million VND per month.
Schools that are autonomous (paying their own salaries, allowances, repairing facilities, etc.) can collect a maximum of 2-2.5 times the above amount, or 2.4-6.15 million VND per month, depending on the level. With quality-accredited training programs, universities can determine their own tuition fees.

Ha Cuong

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