Post-university and college admissions 2015: Many schools may have to close down.

That's the observation of many admissions officers after two rounds of admissions, where some schools have only managed to recruit 1/6 of their target number of students after two rounds, and some schools haven't even recruited any students at all.

Even a public university like Hanoi University of Agriculture 1 is struggling with student recruitment. After the first round of admissions, while still lacking approximately 2,000 students to fill its training quota, the university received 2,100 applications.

At first glance, the numbers seem impressive, but Mr. Bui Tran Anh Dao, head of the training management board at the University of Agriculture 1, only dares to predict that the maximum number of students who actually attend will only be 50% due to the high rate of "ghost" applications (applications from students who don't actually enroll).

The school's response was: they are short of students, need about 1,000 more, and are calling for a third round of applications. However, even now, the school doesn't know if students will continue to show up.

The image is for illustrative purposes only.

An admissions officer from Hanoi University of Business and Technology said that during the third application period (starting September 11, 2015), the university only received a few dozen applications. The officer commented: "It seems like there are no more applicants left; I don't know where they all went." In the second period, out of 2,085 applications, only 819 students actually enrolled; the rest were "virtual" applicants (those who applied but didn't intend to enroll).

Across both admission rounds, the school has only had 1,755 students enroll and is currently short 3,245 students. "At this rate, many schools will have to close down!" exclaimed a school admissions officer, expressing his disappointment.

Xuan Mai Forestry University only received 800 applications after the second round of admissions and predicts that only about one-third of the applicants will actually enroll. The university still needs approximately 1,000 students and is currently calling for applications for the third round.

Luong The Vinh University in Nam Dinh, a school considered to have good facilities, has only received about a dozen applicants so far, and its admissions officers are working tirelessly to find students.

Among the universities struggling to recruit students, some have found ways to survive. Dai Nam University had a target of 1,300 students and after two rounds of admissions, it managed to recruit 1,200 candidates.

Explaining this, Principal Phan Trong Phuc said that in addition to striving to improve the quality of students currently being trained, the school has sought to cooperate with businesses to find jobs for students after graduation (achieving an 80% employment rate upon graduation).

If universities rely solely on national exam results for admissions, they will fail to recruit enough students. In the current difficult situation, autonomy in admissions, specifically implementing their own admissions methods based on academic transcripts, is a lifeline for universities struggling to recruit. This is the opinion of Mr. Phan Trong Phuc, whose university fortunately avoided collapse, while many admissions officers agree that many universities may have to close this year due to insufficient student enrollment.

According to Tien Phong