Tuition fees suddenly increase, students react

Van Thanh is a third-year student majoring in finance and banking at Nha Trang University. Since the end of September, the male student has paid 6.2 million VND in tuition. By the evening of October 2, information about the school suddenly increasing tuition fees caused a stir on forums. Thanh checked his student account and was shocked to see a notice that he had to pay 8 million VND for the first semester. The male student still owes 2 million VND and the payment deadline is October 10.

Thanh said that the price of each credit increased by about 30%. What made him angry was that the school increased the tuition fee without informing or explaining to students. As of yesterday, the school had not made any official announcement, except to extend the tuition payment deadline to October 10.

"Because of poor economic conditions, I chose to study here. Suddenly having to come up with 2 million, I don't know where to find the money and how to explain to my family because the day before I asked for money to pay the first semester tuition," Thanh said.

Phuong Nga, a third-year student majoring in accounting at the high-quality program, is similar. In early September, the system displayed the first semester tuition fee of about 13 million VND for 9 courses (22 credits). Nga paid 6.8 million VND in advance. By October 3, the new tuition fee displayed was nearly 19 million VND.

"I don't understand why this increase is happening. The school didn't give any prior notice. There's only one week left until the tuition deadline. How can students manage it in time?" Nga said.

At Hai Duong Medical Technical University, many students also reacted when tuition fees suddenly increased.

Ha Linh, a new student majoring in medical imaging technology, paid nearly VND10 million when she enrolled on September 6, of which VND8 million was the estimated tuition fee. According to the enrollment plan in April, the monthly tuition fee for this major was VND2.09 million. But on September 24, the school announced that it would collect VND2.59 million per month for the first semester.

"The tuition fee has increased sharply while the school announced it too late, making us very upset. Now we have paid tens of millions of dong, if we drop out of school we will lose it, but if we continue studying, we don't know if we can survive because the tuition fee increase leads to many other things increasing," Linh said.

For the medical field, according to the plan, tuition for new students is expected to be 2.76 million VND per month, and for other fields it is 2.09 million. However, the latest announcement from the school clearly states that the first semester tuition for the medical field is 3.43 million VND, nursing is 2.09 million VND, and for other fields it is 2.59 million VND.

The Quang, a medical student, said the school puts new students in a dilemma. "The school should have announced it before students registered for admission because tuition is also one of the selection criteria," Quang said.

Tuition fees for previous courses at the school have also increased. Thanh Mai, a senior student majoring in medical laboratory technology, said tuition fees "suddenly" increased from about 405,000 VND per credit to 524,000 VND, which means a possible increase of 2 million VND per semester.

"I asked my family for money to pay the old rate. My parents also had to struggle to make enough. But now the school has just announced the new rate," Mai shared.

Responding to reporters on the afternoon of October 3, Dr. Pham Hong Manh, Head of the Planning and Finance Department, Nha Trang University, said that the school has just decided to temporarily collect tuition fees according to the roadmap proposed by the Ministry of Education and Training to the Government, that is, applying the tuition fee framework for the 2022-2023 school year for this school year instead of the 2023-2024 framework according to Decree 81.

Specifically, the price of each general subject credit is 280,000 VND. For basic and specialized subjects, the price ranges from 330,000-390,000 VND per credit for final year students, 340,000-450,000 VND for other students. For some quality-accredited majors, the price of specialized credits is 440,000-490,000 VND.

Explaining why the tuition fee shown on student accounts in September was lower, Mr. Manh said the system automatically updated last year's level and the school had not yet announced it.

"Many students base on this level and pay by bank transfer," said Mr. Manh, adding that the school will extend the payment deadline to November 22 instead of October 10 as announced. And this is still the provisional fee. The official tuition fee will be announced after the Ministry of Education and Training provides guidance on this year's fee.

For Hai Duong Medical Technical University, tuition fees increased because the school became an autonomous unit with regular expenses, and the state budget was cut since June. However, the enrollment plan was released in April and candidates registered for university admission in July and August. The school only said that it had considered the new tuition fees.

According to Decree 81 of 2021 on public tuition fees, the tuition ceiling for medical and pharmaceutical majors in non-autonomous schools is 2.09-2.76 million VND per month, exactly as Hai Duong Medical Technical University stated in the project. Schools have guaranteed that their regular expenses will be collected at a maximum of 4.18-5.52 million VND. However, the Ministry of Education and Training has submitted a draft amendment to this decree with a lower ceiling.

The Government has not yet issued a revised decree. Some schools such as Foreign Trade and Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology collect tuition fees similar to last year while waiting for new regulations. Hanoi Law University collects tuition fees in accordance with Decree 81, saying it will refund if the revised decree sets a lower rate. Most private schools, not affected by Decree 81, have increased tuition fees, commonly by 5-10%.