University Admissions 2025: Note to avoid confusing program names

Currently, many universities enroll at least 2 types of programs for the same major with different admission requirements, training characteristics and tuition fees. Candidates when choosing a major to register for should pay special attention to avoid confusion.

OVER 20 TYPES OF PROGRAMS

Looking at the list of university-level enrollment majors in 2025 of many schools, candidates and parents will be confused when there are many different programs in the same major.

Candidates need to pay attention to the names of training programs when applying for university admission.

PHOTO: NHAT THINH

For example, Foreign Trade University has 4 types of programs: advanced, high quality, standard, career-oriented and international development. Hanoi University of Science and Technology has standard programs, taught in English, enhanced foreign languages ​​(Japanese/French), other foreign language output standards...

This year, Ho Chi Minh City Banking University announced the enrollment of the following programs: Partial English regular university, special training according to international quality English standards, full international university with dual degrees, full international university with degrees granted by partners, full standard university. In which, the major of finance and banking appears in all programs. The school uses different admission methods for each program.

The University of Finance and Marketing enrolls 4,818 students for 5 programs. Of which, the standard program has 8 majors with 670 students, the specialized oriented program with 3 majors - 234 students, the integrated program with 7 majors - 3,754 students, the international oriented full English program with 4 majors - 160 students, the talent program with 1 major - 50 students. Some majors are trained simultaneously in many programs such as: marketing, business administration, finance and banking...

Within the Ho Chi Minh City National University, schools also enroll students in many different types of programs. From 2023, the University of Economics and Law will restructure its training programs. Accordingly, the standard program will be converted into a Vietnamese training program and the high-quality program will be converted into an English training program. In addition, the school will implement a cooperative teaching and learning program with businesses (Co-op).

This year, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities enrolls students in two standard and international standard training programs.

Notably, the University of Science and Technology has 41 majors in the standard program, 27 majors in the English-taught program, 2 majors in the international engineering bachelor's joint program, 15 majors in the talent program, 8 majors in the Vietnam-France high-quality engineering program, 1 major in the advanced program, and 2 majors in the Japanese-oriented program.

Not only public schools, private schools also have different training programs for the same major. For example, in the list of university enrollment codes in 2025 of Hong Bang International University, it can be seen that many majors have 2 training programs at the same time such as: medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing... Besides the standard program, Van Lang International University also has special programs for some majors.

Just by name alone, there are over 20 different programs being implemented by universities.

Candidates need to carefully research information and consider choosing a program that is suitable for the specific characteristics of each program. Candidates need to note that each program has its own admission code, so they need to clearly identify their wishes and personal abilities before registering.

Master Nguyen Thao Chi (Head of Communication and Event Management Department, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City)

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PROGRAMS

Each program implemented at each school has its own characteristics in terms of training, study location, tuition fees, output standards and degrees.

For example, at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, just counting the training programs entirely at the school, there are big differences. The standard program taught in Vietnamese, tuition fee 30 million VND/year and study location at Di An campus (Binh Duong). The program taught in English tuition fee is about 80 million VND/year, study location at Ly Thuong Kiet campus (Ho Chi Minh City). The advanced program taught entirely in English, tuition fee is about 80 million VND/year. The Japanese-oriented program teaches specialized subjects according to the standard program combining training in Japanese communication - major and Japanese culture, tuition fee is about 60 million VND/year. Meanwhile, the international bachelor of engineering joint program tuition fee is about 256 million VND/year, degree is granted by Sydney University of Technology (Australia)...

Master Nguyen Thao Chi, Head of the Department of Communication and Event Management of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City, said that the special thing about the school's training program is that all majors under the international standard program are included in the standard program. Therefore, from the beginning, candidates can register to choose to enroll in a major in one of the two programs. Majors that enroll both programs will have different admission codes and separate benchmark scores; the benchmark score for majors under the international program can be higher than the standard program, or vice versa, depending on each year. On the graduation certificate, the name of the major is the same but the name of the training program is different.

Master Cu Xuan Tien, Head of Admissions and Student Affairs Department of the University of Economics and Law, also said that the programs will be different in many aspects. For example, students of the English-taught program have a higher English output standard of IELTS 6.0 (while the Vietnamese program has IELTS 5.0). The tuition fee of the English program is also twice as high as the Vietnamese program (VND 65 million/year for the English program and VND 31.5 million/year for the Vietnamese program). There is no difference in the study location but the class size will be different. The diploma has the same major name but the diploma appendix will be different whether the program is taught in English or Vietnamese.

According to the average tuition fees for students enrolling in the 2024-2025 school year of Hong Bang International University, the English training program is more expensive than the Vietnamese program. Specifically, for the medical and dental majors, the Vietnamese program is about 210 million VND/year, while the English program is 250 million VND/year. The pharmacy major is 60 million VND/year (Vietnamese) and 100 million VND/year (English). The remaining majors are 55 million VND/year (Vietnamese) and 100 million VND/year (English).

12th grade students in Ho Chi Minh City participate in the 2025 high school graduation mock exam

Photo: Dao Ngoc Thach

Which program should I choose?

Advising candidates on choosing a study program, Master Thao Chi said: "Different programs of a school will have certain differences. Therefore, candidates need to carefully research information and consider choosing a program that is suitable for the characteristics of each program. Candidates need to note that each program has its own admission code, so they need to clearly identify their wishes and personal abilities before registering."

"The standard program is the right choice for most candidates, especially those who want to study domestically, follow the basic research orientation or work immediately after graduation. Meanwhile, the English enhancement program, the advanced program is suitable for candidates with a fair level of English proficiency, who want to integrate internationally or continue their graduate studies, work at multinational companies," analyzed Master Hoang Thanh Tu, Deputy Head of the Information and Communication Department of Ho Chi Minh City University of Science.

Master Cu Xuan Tien also said that in previous years, there were cases of students registering for admission but not carefully reviewing the information about the study program. When admitted, candidates were stuck because they did not have enough English skills to study or did not have enough financial conditions to pay the full tuition fee. Meanwhile, changing majors and programs after being admitted is not easy to do due to the regulations on admission scores. Therefore, Master Tien advised: "Candidates need to carefully research information about majors, study programs, and especially tuition information. Depending on career orientation, learning ability and family conditions, students should consider choosing the appropriate program."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tuyen-sinh-dh-2025-luu-y-tranh-nham-lan-ten-chuong-trinh-185250618194334159.htm