Vietnam Govt Okays to Raise Tuition Fees Starting in 2015-2016

The Vietnamese government has issued a decree to increase tuition fees and granted exemption policies for special students starting in the 2015-2016 academic year. Tuition fees for preschool and state schools are raised by VND60,000($2.6) to VND300,000 per month for each student in urban districts and VND30,000 to VND120,000 a month for a student in countryside districts and VND8,000-VND60,000 a month for a student in mountainous districts. From the academic year 2016-2017 onward, tuition fees for state facilities and preschools will be adjusted following the average increased yearly consumer price index (CPI) announced by the Ministry of Planning and Investment. The decree also mentioned tuition fees in state-owned self-financed universities. For instance, tuition fees for social science, economy, law, agriculture, forestry and fisheries subjects will be VND1.75 million a month for the academic years of 2015-2016 and 2017-2018 but the fees will be hiked to VND1.85 million and VND2.05 million for the following years. Similarly, tuition fees for natural science, technology, sports, tourism will be from VND2.05 million to VND2.2 million and pharmaceutical medicine is VND4.4 million – VND5.05 million. The school fee at state-funded university facilities is VND610,000 for the academic years from 2015-2016 to 2020-2021. Vietnam currently has 43,874 schools, including 14,203 kindergartens, 15,277 primary schools, 10,878 secondary schools, 2,767 high schools, 313 vocational schools, 217 colleges and 219 universities. (baochinhphu.vn, Hanoi Moi – New Hanoi Oct 6 p5)