LookAtVietnam – Besides the sky high tuitions, students of many public universities must pay a lot of other university fees.

Students of Phuong Dong University pay tuition

Tuition is capped, but “strange” fees multiply

At Bach Viet College in HCM City, for example, every student has to buy three uniforms. One uniform is for gymnastics and sports. Co-eds must have a traditional ao dai (long dress), and at least two university uniform shirts. P.T, a new accounting student, said that the three uniforms cost at least one million dong. In addition, she also has to pay for her student card, health insurance and health care services.

“The university informed me that tuition is 2.4 million dong, so my parents gave me 3.4 million dong to pay tuition and cover expenses for one month,” Hoang, a student of Van Hien University complained. “Now I only have 300,000 dong in pocket, since I had to pay a lot of university fees, including the enrollment fee, and buy a uniform and pay the insurance premium.”

He added, “It is quite strange that the university asks all new students to purchase shoes, though many don’t need them.”

The Ministry of Education and Training only sets the ceiling on tuition costs, not on other university fees. Therefore, universities can charge fees of any amount they want.

They can also require unusual fees. A university last year reportedly required new students to purchase motorcycle safety helmets with the school logo.

Students of the Foreign Language and Informatics University have complained that besides tuition, they have to pay 110,000 dong in university fees, which includes a fee for first-year students’ activities.

“What is the fee? Why does not the university use the tuition for the activities?” the students ask.

‘Practice year’ fees impractical

Students of the Foreign Language and Informatics University are now worried about the sum of money they may have to pay for their practice year, during which they get work experience in their respective fields.

Da Chinh, a student of the university who studies tourism, worried, “Older students said that we need to have 10 million dong for the practical year. The students have to pay 7 million dong this year to take a tour across the country for our curriculum.”

The costs of the tour, a compulsory part of the curriculum, have frightened many students. Dan, a student of Van Lang University, calculated that the money spent on the practice year is equal to the regular yearly tuition cost.

“I previously thought that it would be less costly to study tourism. But the total cost is not low at all,” she stated.

In HCM City, only Van Lang University has announced that it will keep the tuition levels unchanged until 2013-2014. Other public universities will increase tuitions yearly.

Van Hien University, for example, has raised the tuition from 2.4 million dong to 3 million dong per semester. That doesn’t include a 300,000 dong fee for English learning. Its students have been frightened by news that the tuition will increase by 10-20 percent.

VietNamNet/DV