Changing semiconductor industry admission regulations, expanding opportunities for potential candidates

New regulations on admission to Semiconductor Microchip industry: More flexible, focusing on quality

On July 22, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) issued a Decision to amend the training program standards for semiconductor microchips at the undergraduate and master's levels. According to the new regulations, the admission requirements for majors related to semiconductor microchips have been significantly adjusted, eliminating the previous requirement of achieving a minimum score of 8 points in Mathematics.

Specifically, candidates applying for majors in this field need to be in the group of 25% of candidates with the highest scores in the admission subject group nationwide, and must also be in the group of 20% of candidates with the highest scores in Math nationwide.

These figures will be announced annually by the Ministry of Education and Training. Regarding the admission combination, the regulation remains the same, which is to include Mathematics and at least one other subject in the field of Natural Sciences.

For candidates who already have a university degree and want to participate in the selection process, the requirement is that the cumulative average score of the graduated training program must be from 2.8/4 or higher. Students who are studying from other training programs and transferring to the program on microchips and semiconductors must have a cumulative average score of 2.5/4 along with some other conditions.

Removing the 8-point Math barrier: Positive feedback from schools

Previously, in May, the Ministry of Education and Training issued a regulation requiring candidates who want to study for a bachelor's degree or engineering degree in semiconductor microchips to achieve at least 80% of the scale for Math (ie 8/10), and the total combined score must reach at least 80% of the scale (eg 24/30 for a combination of three subjects).

However, during the process of collecting opinions on the draft, many universities expressed concerns that the criterion of 8 points per subject is too rigid, which could create technical barriers in enrollment. The schools are concerned that if this regulation is applied, they will have difficulty achieving the goal of training 50,000 human resources for the semiconductor industry by 2030 as required by the Government.

Although the representative of the Ministry of Education and Training previously affirmed that they would not lower input standards due to the great demand for human resources, this change in regulations shows that they are listening and adjusting to better suit reality.

Immediately after the Ministry of Education and Training announced the 2025 high school graduation exam scores, Vietnam-Japan University and the University of Natural Sciences, Vietnam National University, Hanoi announced the minimum scores and removed the requirement that candidates must achieve a minimum score of 8 points in Math and 24/30 points in combination to be considered for admission to majors related to semiconductors, in accordance with the Ministry's new regulations.

This change is expected to create more favorable conditions for candidates with good ability and thinking but may not have achieved absolute scores in each subject, thereby attracting a more diverse source of human resources for the semiconductor industry which is in great need of talent.