Eyes on US Students: Vietnamese Universities Seek to Grow Int'l Student Numbers

Vietnamese higher education institutions are working to expand the international student population by attracting more students from the United States, local media reports say.

32 higher education institutions gathered last month at a workshop held by the US Consulate General in HCMC to discuss solutions for luring students from the US as the home to many high-ranking universities,

As the Vn Express reports, university representatives highlighted the need to make campuses more international in an effort to strengthen their reputation and fulfill parents’ demands.

“Vietnamese educational institutions, either public or private, need to have foreign students, and if we can attract American students then it would be even better, because we all know that the US provides one of the best educations in the world,” vice principal of HCMC University of Economics and Finance (UEF), Do Huu Nguyen Loc, said during the event.

Acting deputy consul general in HCMC, Graham, also commented on the number of American students in Vietnam, saying that the US wants to expand the collaboration with Vietnamese institutions in several areas. Harlow highlighted the comprehensive partnership between the US and Vietnam for a decade now, Erudera.com reports.

According to the Institute of International Education’s (IIE) “Open Doors” Report, the number of US students in Vietnam fell to only four students in the 2020/21 academic year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and travel measures imposed to curb the spread of the virus. This figure fell from 452 students in 2019/20 and 1,235 in 2018/19.

There were 14,549 US university students studying abroad in the 2020/21 academic year, a decline from 162,633 in 2019/20 and 347,099 students the previous year.

On the other hand, Vietnamese students constitute the fifth largest group of international students in the US, up from the sixth spot in 2021.

According to data, thousands of Vietnamese students selected the US as their study-abroad destination in the 2021/22 academic year. Nonetheless, US universities and colleges welcomed fewer students from Vietnam compared to previous years.

A total of 20,713 Vietnamese students attended US higher education institutions in 2021/22, down from 21,631 in 2020/21 and also a drop from 23,777 students in 2019/20.

“As the United States approaches the 10th Anniversary of U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership, the Open Doors data is demonstrable proof that education remains a cornerstone of the bilateral relationship, while the nature of our current educational cooperation is already strategic,” the US Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer, Genevieve Judson-Jourdain, said while commenting on the Open Doors 2022 report.

In 2018/19, 24,392 students from Vietnam were enrolled at US universities, a three percent increase from 2017/18, the US Embassy in Vietnam said. That year, the number of Vietnamese students in the US rose for the 18th year in a row.