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Postgraduate study abroad market potential

Acumen's latest Key Trends in Southeast Asia 2024 report cites UNESCO statistics showing that Vietnam has more than 132,000 international students in the 2021-2022 school year, the most in Southeast Asia. It is followed by Malaysia and Indonesia, each with more than 56,000 international students, while Thailand has only 32,000.

Ms. Myleeta Aga Williams, CEO International of upGrad, an education platform from India, assessed that the education market in Vietnam is very large with a population of more than 100 million. In particular, there are many people working and starting to work, the population structure is also young, so the potential for studying and cultivating knowledge after university is very open. Therefore, many universities in countries around the world are targeting Vietnam to recruit students with many attractive scholarship programs.

Previously, the countries most chosen for studying abroad were the US, Australia, and Canada because the advantage of English helped students have more opportunities to compete for jobs. However, as global economic power gradually shifts to the East, "destinations" in Asia such as Japan, South Korea, China, and Taiwan (China) are increasingly attracting Vietnamese students.

According to statistics from the Department of International Cooperation (Ministry of Education and Training), Vietnam currently ranks first in the number of international students in countries and territories such as Taiwan (China), Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Australia, the US... The above data shows that Vietnam is a "hot" enrollment spot for educational institutions around the world.

Mr. Vu Le, Country Head at upGrad Vietnam, said that currently, the postgraduate majors that international students often register for are business administration, technology and data, hotel management, design and digital marketing. Among them, the PhD in Business is chosen by many people to advance their career in Vietnam.

Research reports from HSBC and the World Bank stated that the reason why postgraduate study abroad has become a new trend is mainly due to the psychology of parents as well as the general development of the economy. However, the main reason is that Vietnamese families always pay top priority to education. The latest announcement from the World Bank in 2023, Vietnam has transformed from one of the poorest countries into a middle-income economy in just one generation, leading to the expansion of the middle class. The above reality, along with the decision to increase tuition fees of many universities in Vietnam in the past and in the future, has made many families consider choosing educational institutions abroad instead of domestically.

A study by INTO education organization also showed that, with 1,000 Gen Z students and 500 parents in Vietnam, the top priority of Vietnamese international students when considering choosing university and graduate school abroad is to improve English proficiency and enhance career prospects.

However, not everyone can afford to study abroad at high costs, including tuition and living expenses in the host country. Not to mention, there are many Vietnamese people who have jobs and families who also want to study at a higher level, get an international Master's or Doctorate degree to serve their promotion or career change... Therefore, the problem of choosing to study in the host country or study abroad is being calculated by many people.

Studying abroad saves more than 70% of costs

“Realizing that many people want to study and work at the same time, upGrad is promoting online learning while still receiving the same degree abroad at a savings of up to 70%,” said Myleeta Aga Williams.

According to Ms. Myleeta, upGrad has become a "unicorn" in the education industry and the first online education platform not only in Vietnam but also in Southeast Asia. In August 2021, the company received a large investment of 185 million USD, bringing its value to 1.2 billion USD, becoming the 21st "unicorn" in India. To date, upGrad has grown strongly with more than 3 million students and more than 300 partner universities worldwide. Data from upGrad also shows that upGrad Holdings (managing upGrad India and upGrad International) is valued at more than 3 billion USD, with a total capital call of up to 400 million USD.

Although it has only been in the Vietnamese market for nearly 2 years, more than 700 students have registered to study abroad online, most of them with a PhD degree. “This confirms that investing in education to improve knowledge and skills after graduation and after working with a genuine international degree in Vietnam is very large, because arranging time to both work and “study abroad” in place with reasonable time, flexibility and low cost is always of interest to many people. In addition, if students want to study abroad in the host country after 1 year of online study, it is still possible,” Mr. Vu Le shared.

Not only the upGrade education platform offers online postgraduate study abroad, many universities in Vietnam also grasp this trend and organize many majors in association with international schools so that students can study in Vietnam and get an international degree. This is the form of on-site study abroad through international cooperation that is currently of most interest to parents. According to the Acumen organization's survey in 2023, with over 1,000 parents participating in the survey, 85% said they were willing to let their children register for international cooperation programs, while only 34% expected to let their children study a Vietnamese program at a Vietnamese university.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam, in 2023, Vietnam had educational training cooperation with more than 50 countries and territories. Of which, the top 5 countries are the UK, the US, France, Australia and South Korea. At the same time, there are more than 600 joint training programs between Vietnamese higher education institutions and foreign higher education institutions.

According to the recent report "Towards a more competitive international education environment in Vietnam" conducted by the British Council, Vietnam is also considered one of the 3rd largest Transnational Education (TNE) markets in Southeast Asia for the UK with more than 7,000 students studying. Considering the proportion of foreign joint training programs in each field, more than 60% are concentrated in the economic and management sectors; 25% are programs related to the field of science and technology; less than 10% are in the field of social sciences and humanities, the rest are in other fields.

Dr. Dong Xuan Dam, Director of the International Training Institute of Phenikaa University, assessed that international cooperation in training is considered by many Vietnamese universities as an inevitable direction in the period of international integration. International cooperation activities, including training linkages, play an important role in the development of higher education institutions in Vietnam, allowing Vietnamese universities to access advanced training technology and training management, improving research and training capacity, thereby expanding access to high-quality international educational services for Vietnamese learners at reasonable costs. Students studying international programs will simultaneously develop professional capacity and foreign language proficiency for future work.