At 8am at the Vietnam Commercial University (VCU), Ms. Tran Thi Phuong, a-54-year-old mother from northern Thai Binh province was waiting with her daughter to lodge a university admission profile. She was anxious over the tuition fee increasing to VND15 million ($677) for ten months of accounting studies. “We are farmers,” she explained. “The tuition fee is a financial burden we will somehow have to manage."

Ms. Phuong is one of many parents and students concerned about increases to tuition fees at some universities. 

In 2014 the government issued Resolution No. 77, allowing 14 public universities nationwide to be part of autonomy programs until 2017. 

The increase in tuition fees stems from this autonomy program, which includes financial autonomy. Financial autonomy at public universities is completely appropriate, according to Mr. Dang Van Dinh, Head of the Policy Analysis and Research Department at the Association of Universities and Colleges Vietnam. He acknowledged, however, that the program faces many challenges. 

Quality improvements

In 2009 the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) assigned six universities to join a pilot university autonomy project, including the Vietnam National University (VNU) in Hanoi. 

During the pilot the university modernized its equipment and built some international-standard laboratories. 

In the introduction about the university autonomy program on its website, the university says it will promote autonomy and responsibility in organization, personnel, finance, international cooperation, training, and scientific research.  

The VNU in Ho Chi Minh City, meanwhile, built a modern infrastructure system on a campus of 600 ha. 

“When revenues increase the universities will have the financial resources to improve infrastructure, equipment and human resources,” Mr. Dinh said. “The quality of education will then also improve.” 

Increasing autonomy allows universities the right to open their own courses, build curricula, and choose methods to reform and improve teaching quality. The policy also helps universities more effectively use their financial resources. 

“With financial autonomy, universities have to cut unnecessary expenses in order to increase revenue and employ lecturers and staff,” said Mr. Dinh. 

At a recent meeting with representatives from universities around the country, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Bui Van Ga reported that seven of the 14 universities had set up their own councils, streamlined their school systems, and added a number of competent lecturers and specialists. 

They set aside at least 8 per cent of tuition fees for student assistance funds and staff incomes also increased. 

After four years of operating under State allocations for facilities, salaries and other items, the Ho Chi Minh City International University, part of VNU in Ho Chi Minh City, which teaches all subjects in English, sought permission to have financial autonomy in 2008. 

Its Rector, Mr. Ho Thanh Phong, told local media that with financial autonomy the university would be given permission to introduce higher tuition fees than other public universities. 

The fees were nearly $1,600 per academic year, Mr. Phong said, adding that the increase would be used to develop its facilities, including 39 modern laboratories for practical training that meets demand from enterprises - the graduates’ future employers. 

“With the higher fees the university had sufficient funds to increase lecturer salaries three-fold,” he said. “This helped us attract high-quality lecturers, with the number increasing from 44 in 2004 when it was set up to 362 in 2015.” 

When faculty members earn sufficient income they have more time to spend on scientific research, which helps the university acquire prestige and attract funding. 

They will also spend more time on their own duties in their faculties, he added. The International University is also autonomous in compiling teaching programs, Mr. Phong said. 

“The university has achieved a great deal from being autonomous,” he added.

The university’s training scale grew in the first year from two to 14 faculties offering Bachelor degrees, nine offering Master’s degrees, and one offering a doctorate program. 

The number of students has increased annually despite the higher fees, reaching more than 6,000, including 30 foreign students. 

Autonomy is an inevitable trend in Vietnam’s tertiary education sector and a deciding factor in an institution’s development, according to Mr. Nguyen Huu Huy Nhut, Deputy Rector of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics (UEH). 

“University staff believe that autonomy acts as leverage for the university reaching its target of becoming a major university in the country and in world,” he was quoted as saying. 

“One year after implementation, new operational mechanisms have created a solid foundation for UEH to quickly integrate into the region and the world.”

According to Mr. Nhut, more comprehensive autonomy makes it easier to assess teaching programs and open new faculties. 

Collecting tuition fees has helped the university gain additional funds for upgrading facilities, textbooks and other school materials. Moreover, it has been able to offer tuition fee exemptions and reductions and provide scholarships and funding for scientific research. 

MoET is now preparing to submit a long-awaited decree on university autonomy to the government. The proposal also aims at removing the current “management function” mechanism, by which each university has its own State agency as its “parent owner” without actual or effective authority. 

“Universities will operate independently without a ministry above their heads,” Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha said.

The downside

Despite its merits, financial autonomy in public universities has also raised a degree of controversy. In the middle of last month, second-year students at the National Economics University (NEU) were shocked when the university announced a 30 per cent increase in tuition fees for the coming academic year. 

Its Vice Principal Pham Hong Chuong said the university that has been granted autonomy and can therefore adjust its tuition fees to balance funding and spending.

Many students wrote comments on the university’s Facebook page saying that any further increase would be a major financial headache. 

“My family’s income is less than VND15 million ($450) a month,” said Nguyen Thanh Hoa, a 20-year-old student at NEU. “Tuition fees for accounting are nearly VND2 million ($90) per month, which I can’t pay without a part-time job.” 

Mr. Dinh affirmed that financial autonomy for universities is in line with the development of modern universities in the world but its implementation in Vietnam is ineffective. 

“The State has not yet given universities full autonomy,” he said. “And the legal framework remains inadequate.” 

Deputy Minister Ga, meanwhile, said that most universities in the pilot are yet to fully exercise their autonomy. He emphasized that autonomy does not mean universities can do whatever they please without any State control. Autonomy comes with accountability, to ensure education quality.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam also touched on the matter during a working visit to Can Tho University on March 31. He stressed that the notion of a “parent owner” for universities should be removed and that universities be independent in academic issues, human resources, and finance. 

“Autonomy in universities must be combined with accountability to improve the quality of graduates and ensure proper mechanisms for the poor to access education,” he said. “Autonomy does not mean that the State ceases investing in education in general and in universities in particular.”

The State, however, will not continue to invest the same amount of funds into universities without considering all factors. “Education development in Vietnam should follow international education trends,” Deputy PM Dam believes. 

VN Economic Times