The joys and sorrows of new students during the admission season
Rising tuition fees and high costs are burdens on many families as their children prepare to enter university. This is also a concern for many families and new students before the new school year.
Increasing tuition fees... increasing worries
Instead of choosing a major or a favorite school, Nguyen Binh, a former student of Vinh University High School for the Gifted, paid more attention to the tuition fees of the majors and schools he attended when applying for university admission. Therefore, although he had a chance to be admitted to his favorite major at the National Economics University in Hanoi, in the end, this candidate decided to choose a university in the South.
My wish is to study in a high-quality program, but the tuition fee for this major is almost double, about 40 million VND/year. This is a tuition fee beyond my family's ability.
Nguyen Binh, former student of Vinh University High School for the Gifted
Because he could not choose a suitable major, on the last day of registration, this candidate decided to transfer to universities in Ho Chi Minh City and the first criterion was still public schools. Currently, this candidate has enough points to pass his first choice to enter the University of Economics and Law, Ho Chi Minh City National University and he almost certainly chose this school because the tuition fee for the general program is only about 15 million VND/semester.
Up to this point, most universities across the country have announced tuition fees for the 2024-2025 school year. As planned, tuition fees will increase by 8-10% each year. Currently, the new tuition fees of all schools have increased by 1 to several million VND compared to the previous school year.
At the Academy of Posts and Telecommunications Technology, tuition fees for students range from 27 to 55.5 million VND/academic year. Of which, the general program ranges from 27 to 34 million VND/academic year (an increase of 2.5 to 6.2 million VND/academic year compared to 2023) depending on the major. Meanwhile, the high-quality program has tuition fees from 39 to 55 million VND/academic year and the international joint program has fees from 49 to 55.5 million VND/academic year.
At the University of Natural Sciences - Vietnam National University, Hanoi, this school year, the majors with the highest tuition fees at the school include: Computer Science and Information, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering Technology, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Biology, Biotechnology 37 million VND/school year. In previous years, the tuition fee was only 35 million VND/school year. In addition to economic majors, medical and pharmaceutical majors have also increased, including public schools with tuition fees ranging from 4 - 10 million VND/month.
Reality also shows that the current trend is that universities are training many programs in parallel, including mass programs, high-quality programs and advanced programs. Of which, the latter two programs are often trained with higher programs (training in English, foreign textbooks)... so students who want to study quality programs are forced to choose majors with high tuition fees. The pressure on families to send their children to university will therefore increase many times over.
My husband and I are both civil servants, earning just over 20 million VND/month. This year, our first child is going to university, and if we calculate carefully, it is almost 10 million VND/month, including tuition, food, accommodation and living expenses, accounting for nearly half of the family's income. The remaining amount, the family has to squeeze and save to have enough to spend for 1 month.
Parent Nguyen Van Quynh - Hung Dung ward (Vinh city)
Provide learning opportunities
To help new students have more opportunities to go to school, at the beginning of this week, the Social Policy Bank of Do Luong district has implemented a credit program for students according to Decision No. 157/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister to all communes and towns in the district.
In a studious area like Do Luong district, every year there are thousands of students studying at universities. Many of them are from poor or near-poor households or families with financial difficulties. All of these cases, if in need, are facilitated by the Social Policy Bank to borrow capital of 4 million VND/month.
Mr. Le Quang Hieu - Director of Social Policy Bank branch in Do Luong district
Across the province, according to statistics from the Provincial Social Policy Bank, to date, more than 8,900 students have received loans under Decision No. 157 with a total outstanding debt of more than 490 billion VND. Of which, from the beginning of 2024 to now, there have been 560 new students borrowing, most of them in districts such as Thanh Chuong, Yen Thanh, Do Luong, Tan Ky, Dien Chau, Quynh Luu.
Mr. Phan Thanh Huyen - Head of Business Planning Department - Provincial Social Policy Bank said: The current loan procedures for students are quite simple and borrowers will be able to borrow up to 20 million/semester/student. In addition, this program also allows students to borrow capital according to the actual number of years of study, the repayment period is equal to the study time plus 1 year of grace for students to find a job. That means a student who studies for 4 years will have a loan period of 4 years and a repayment period of 9 years from the date of borrowing, so they will not be under too much pressure to repay the debt.
Over many years of implementation, the preferential credit program for students has proven effective in real life and the preferential loans have helped families in difficult circumstances reduce financial pressure, giving new students the opportunity to study, establish themselves and start a career.
Mr. Phan Thanh Huyen - Head of Business Planning Department - Provincial Social Policy Bank
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