Vietnam’s people founded universities have said they will raise fees by between 10 and 15 percent for the upcoming school year.

Nguyen Dinh Ngo, president of Phu Xuan people founded University in Thua Thien - Hue city Province, said that the school set tuition at 4.5 million dong for 2009-2010, while it plans to raise tuition by 15 percent to 5.2 million dong.

Ngo said that the university has had to raise tuition because it needs to make further investment at a time when goods and services are all getting more and more expensive.

Sharing the same view with Ngo, Dang The Huy, deputy president of the Luong The Vinh people founded University in Nam Dinh City, said: “Everything is getting more expensive, from electricity, water and premises’ rent. The school needs to purchase more equipment and upgrade its facilities, therefore, raising tuition fees is unavoidable”.

Huy added that his school plans to purchase 100 more computers and complete the construction of the building worth 30 billion dong.

Luong The Vinh school plans to raise the tuition by 10 percent, from 5 million dong per school year to 5.5 million dong from 2010-2011.

President of people founded Thang Long University in Hanoi Le Van Mot has also said that the school plans to raise the tuition by 10-15 percent.

“The exact tuition cost will be declared by the end of the February 2010, when the board of directors of the school gathers,” Mot said.

He went on to say that raising tuition fees could be anticipated as everything is getting more and more expensive. “We raise tuitions but will also improve training quality as well,” he promised.

People founded Thang Long University now provides 16 training options. The currently applied tuition fees are different depending on which study branch. Medicine and pharmacy options now have the highest tuition levels at 12 million dong per school year.

The people founded Hung Vuong School in HCM City considered raising tuition in the 2009-2010 school year, but it then canceled the plan and kept the same level at six million dong per year.

However, plans to raise tuition will be implemented in the 2010-2011 school year according to Nguyen Ngoc Giao, the university’s Deputy President.

“Tuition fee increases will not be high. The funds will be used only to pay lecturers and cover basic expenses, while we will call for support from investors,” Giao said.

It seems that only Thanh Tay University in Hanoi has not planned to raise tuition. According to the school’s President Le Cong Huynh, the tuition level of seven million dong will still be applied to university training (4-year) and five million dong for junior college (3-year) training

In August 2009, the Prime Minister approved the new tuition framework, under which, from the 2009-2010 school year, state owned schools are allowed to raise maximum tuitions from 180,000 dong to 240,000 dong per month

VietNamNet/TP