According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training , of the more than 1.16 million students taking the high school graduation exam in 2025, about 310,000 students will not be admitted to university or college, accounting for nearly 27%.
The number of candidates applying for university and college admission this year is 849,544 candidates. Thus, nationwide, on average, nearly 3 candidates applying for university admission, 1 candidate refuses to apply for university admission.
This number is not small but not too surprising as this has been a reality for many years: Students refuse to go to university.
310,000 students will not be admitted to university in 2025 (Illustration: Hoai Nam).
From 2022, on average, about 30% of students will not register for university admission each year. The highest rate will be in 2022 when up to 36% of candidates will not register for university admission.
Ms. Nguyen Hai Truong An (Hung Vuong University) said, "Why do hundreds of thousands of students not register for university?" is a question she receives every year after the Ministry of Education and Training announces the registration data.
According to Ms. An, the answer sounds unusual but is actually very normal. Students do not choose to go to university because they have other options or because they do not have the conditions to study. Some students go to study abroad, some pursue vocational training, and some choose to enter the labor market right after grade 12 to support their families...
Not to mention other reasons such as getting married, choosing to live slowly to reconsider, and the large number of students at the threshold of life not knowing what to choose.
Ms. Nguyen Hai Truong An stated her point of view that she does not advocate that “everyone must go to university” or “university is the only way”. Each individual has their own choice and their own suitable journey.
The most important thing, according to Ms. An, is how to make students' choices come from understanding themselves, consciously seeking information, and not falling into a passive state of not knowing what else to do, having no one to guide them, or waiting for someone to choose for them...
MSc. Pham Thai Son, Director of Admissions at Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, said that from 2022 to now, the rate of candidates not registering for university admission has tended to decrease gradually from 36% (in 2022) to 34% (in 2023) and further down to 31% (in 2024) and this year is 27%.
This steady decline partly shows that the domestic higher education system is becoming increasingly attractive. At the same time, there is also a stable rate of candidates choosing other paths outside of university.
Mr. Pham Thai Son emphasized that university education is one of many options, not the only option. It is normal that many students do not choose university.
In addition to reasons such as students studying abroad, learning a trade, or choosing other paths, Mr. Pham Thai Son is also interested in the Gap Year trend (a stopover between high school and university) of many Gen Z students today. They tend to choose to experience life before making the right choice for themselves.
Dropping out of college due to tuition pressure?
Not only do hundreds of thousands of students fail to get into university, every year there are hundreds of thousands of students who pass the university entrance exam but do not enroll.
Many candidates passed the university entrance exam but did not enroll (Photo captured from the Ministry of Education and Training's report on the rate of candidates enrolling in the period 2020-2023).
As of 2024, there are more than 122,000 candidates who passed the entrance exam but did not enroll in university. University is just a backup plan and they… choose other options.
It is not just a matter of refusing to go to university but also a matter of not being able to go to university. Students stop at the university door now not because they cannot pass but also because of the pressure of increasing university tuition fees.
Besides, the situation of unemployed graduates and difficulty in finding jobs also affects the choices of many students.
A recent World Bank report shows that Vietnam has the lowest university and college enrollment rate among East Asian countries in the 2020-2022 period. Twenty years ago, China's overall enrollment rate was lower than Vietnam's, and 10 years ago, the enrollment rates of the two countries were quite similar, but now, Vietnam's overall enrollment rate is only half of China's.
Notably, Vietnamese youth from poor and near-poor households account for less than 15% of the total number of university students, and more than 40% of students are well-off.
Statistics from 2021-2023 of the Ministry of Education and Training also show that the ratio of university students to people aged 18-22 in Vietnam is only 27.9-30%, much lower than other countries in the region.
During the 8th session of the 15th National Assembly at the end of 2024, delegate Huynh Thi Anh Suong ( Quang Ngai delegation) warned about the current situation of students worrying about escalating university tuition fees, with each year continuing to be higher than the previous year.
The burden of university tuition fees is one of the biggest pressures for many students today (Photo: Hoai Nam).
This leads to the fact that many students from poor families have difficulty attending university even though they have good academic ability.
According to the General Statistics Office, as of the first quarter of 2025, only less than 29% of Vietnamese workers who have received training have degrees or certificates from elementary level or higher. More than 70% of workers have not received training, Vietnam lacks both the number of human resources with technical expertise, especially high-quality human resources.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/hon-310000-hoc-sinh-tu-choi-xet-tuyen-dai-hoc-co-bat-thuong-20250731150748916.htm
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