VietNamNet Bridge – Tuition at many universities has been raised, forcing students to reconsider which entrance exams to take.

The diagram which shows the tuition levels in 2009 and 2010 of some universities

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Tuoi Tre journalists note the big difference among tuitions set by universities, anywhere from six to 100 million dong per academic year. Saigon International School, for example, collects 105 million dong a year for training courses taught in English and 42.5 million dong a year for the programs taught in Vietnamese. The 100 percent foreign-owned university thus requires the sky-high tuition price of 150 million dong per school year.

Non-state-owned universities always set tuitions higher than state-owned institutions. HCM City Economics-Finance University collects 55 million dong a year. FPT University collects nearly 50 million dong.

Most non-state-owned universities have raised their tuitions for the 2010-2011 academic year. Hoa Sen University collects 19 million dong a year. Other universities take in 10 million dong a year, and another 11-15 million dong for some study branches.

State-owned universities will gather 240,000 dong a month in tuition, as set by the State. However, some universities set “special tuition levels” for “special training programs.” The Medical Faculty of HCM City National University will enroll first-year students in 2010-2011, charging them 40-50 million dong.

Quach Huu Loc, Head of the Training Division, notes that the exact tuition level has not been decided, but will probably be between 40-50 million dong a year. Loc observes that tuitions will be high because the training program will follow an international university model and the faculty training program is also based on a modern foreign model. Students will study 30 percent of the curricula in English.

Former semi-state-owned schools that now operate as state-owned schools with financial autonomy have set tuition between four and seven million dong a year. HCM City Finance and Marketing University, for example, collects 5.5 million dong a year for the university (4-year) training and 5 million dong for junior college (3-year) training. Ton Duc Thang University costs between 4.4 and 7 million dong a year, depending on the study branch.

Many students do not have enough information about tuition. NHT from Binh Duong arrived at the Ministry of Education and Training southern office on March 26 to hand in three applications to three medical universities, including the Medical Faculty under the HCM City National University. T. was surprised when she was informed of the high tuition. She decided not to take their exam, since her “family cannot afford such a high tuition level.”

VietNamNet/Tuoi tre