VietNamNet Bridge – Universities managed by major corporations are facing numerous challenges and difficulties, such as limited development opportunities and budget reductions.

The corporate university model was built on the idea that companies know what they want out of their future employees, so they should take part in their education. But they've found it challenging to balance their dual statuses as both corporations and schools.

Teaching facilities required large investments and many students found limited job opportunities after graduating, said Associate Professor Nguyen Huu Lap, former deputy director of the Post and Telecommunications Institute of Technology. These factors have hindered the development of corporate universities.

The institute was formed in 1997 under the management of the Viet Nam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT). Lap said the university was only able to accept 200 applicants the first year because VNPT had a low demand for undergraduate students at the time.

He said the model faced some systemic issues. It wasn't able to accept many students, and it failed to compete with public universities with much lower prices.

Also, the recent economic slowdown forced corporations to cut their university budgets, resulting in lower-quality education and less prestige.

PetroVietnam University, founded in November 2010, offered only one major – petroleum engineering. Students who graduated often found their employment opportunities were limited, and the university struggled to grow without substantial funding from the State and other corporations.

"Education is a process to provide our society with necessary skills," said Prof. Trinh Minh Thu, deputy director of the Water Resource University. "It remains a top political and social objective for the country's universities. Economic enterprises, however, would only stay committed as long as there was profit to be gained."

VNS