LookAtVietnam – No one wants to be second or third choice and it’s the same for universities. Now, with deadlines looming, many look set to suffer low sign-up rates.

To date, the university has received 20 applictions to study at the university under the third choice scheme. With the deadline as soon as next week, it needs to enroll 180 more.

In Viet Nam, students have to pass entrance exams to be able to study at the universities of their choice. Students, who fail to reach required levels, can still pursue second and third choice options just so long as they have the scores required

Also suffering are the HCM City Polytechnique and Technology University. It has 500 applications but a capacity of 800.

According to Ngo Cao Cuong, head of the university training division, there is a big difference between numbers applying for different study options.

Students are still registering for over subscribed options while others continue to fall short of applicants.

Nguyen Thi Mai Binh, training division head of Hung Vuong University, confirms her university has 400 applications but that’s way below the 1000 quota. In particular foreign languages and polytechnique, which covers more practical skills, are not proving popular.

Even state-run universities, long regarded as superior, also face the same problems.

Le Tan Phat, deputy president of HCM City Banking University, said two new study options, business administration and accountancy-auditing have not caught students’ imagination.

In order to be able to register to study at the university, students have to have 18.5-20 scores from the university entrance exams. However, it appears students with such scores are already pursuing more popular options.

It’s left universities trying to work out how they can best attract more students.

Mai Binh says her university previously planned to raise tuition to 8,500 dong per teaching hour. However, as they struggle to lure students, it has decided to freeze tuition rates. Elsewhere the university has decided to cut civil engineering places by 20 per cent as a direct result of limited interest.

“We plan to have 30 students for every class, while we will persuade some students to consider other options which are still lacking students.”

Meanwhile, Duc also says his university is encouraging students to consider to other routes.

Universities are not only worried about low numbers numbers but also the quality of students. Phat from the HCM City Banking University says students who end up in their last choice often don’t complete the course.

Figures show that there is a 50 per cent fall out.

“In general, third-choice students do not really like their options, they just haven’t been accepted to study what and where they want. Therefore, many of them drop out,” he said.

VietNamNet/NLD