Admissions 2025: Candidates balance financial problems

GD&TĐ - Many candidates plan to choose a major and training facility that suits their learning ability as well as their family's economic conditions.

Stable tuition policies, preferential scholarships and financial support have become important factors to help candidates have more motivation and opportunities to pursue their dreams of going to university.

"Cut your coat according to your cloth"

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Nhi - a candidate from Long Binh ward, Dong Nai, achieved the results of the 2025 High School Graduation Exam with scores in the following subjects: Math 6.2; English 6.5; Economic and Legal Education 9.2; Literature 6.25. Nhi cherishes the dream of pursuing a legal major such as Law, Economic Law or International Commercial Law.

However, with a not-so-high total admission score, she realized that the chance of getting into top schools like Ho Chi Minh City University of Law or Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics was quite slim. Her family's poor economic situation made Nhi consider carefully in choosing a public school with reasonable tuition fees.

After registering for more than 10 Law majors at public schools in Ho Chi Minh City, Nhi was faced with the choice of submitting an additional application to a private school or choosing a public school in another locality with low tuition fees and suitable admission scores. Finally, after consulting her family, Nhi chose Thu Dau Mot University (Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Binh Duong province) and Da Lat University (Lam Dong).

According to information from Thu Dau Mot University, the tuition fee for the 2025-2026 school year for the Law major is 795,000 VND/credit - relatively low compared to many schools in Ho Chi Minh City. The school also has many scholarship policies, especially for students with difficult circumstances. In addition, the school considers admission by many flexible methods: High school graduation exam scores, school records and results of the Ho Chi Minh City National University's competency assessment exam.

“I want to study Law because I find it suitable for my abilities and interests, especially the subject of Economic and Legal Education. However, because my family is still poor, I prioritize choosing a public school with low tuition fees, guaranteed quality and no financial pressure,” Nhi shared.

Similarly, Nguyen Minh Duc - a candidate from Dong Thap also made a careful choice before deciding to study Economics. Although he wanted to enter Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics (UEH), Duc himself realized that his high school exam and competency assessment test scores were only average. According to the announcement on the afternoon of July 21, the minimum score for the admission method based on high school exam results combined with English proficiency at the main campus of UEH Ho Chi Minh City is 20 points, while the minimum score at UEH Vinh Long Branch is only 16 points.

“The admission score at UEH Vinh Long is lower than the main campus, but the degrees and training programs are still equivalent. In particular, the tuition fee at the branch is only 60% of the HCMC campus, and it is close to home, so I chose to study here to increase my chances of being accepted and save money,” Duc said.

Tuition fees are one of the major concerns of parents and candidates when choosing to apply for university admission. Photo: Le Nam

Keep tuition fees stable, promote scholarships and preferential loans

In the context of increasing education costs, many public universities have proactively announced reasonable tuition policies, maintaining stable fees to reduce financial pressure on students. At the same time, scholarship and financial aid programs continue to be promoted, providing open learning opportunities for students across the country.

At Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport, tuition fees are calculated by credit and remain stable for at least the first 3 years. Specifically: Standard program 450,000 VND/credit; advanced program 980,000 VND/credit; program taught entirely in English 1,500,000 VND/credit. Tuition fees for advanced and international programs will remain the same as in 2024. The school is committed to maintaining this tuition fee and the training volume of 120 credits - ensuring the standards according to the regulations in Decision No. 1982/QD-TTg dated October 18, 2016 of the Prime Minister.

The University of Technology (Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City) continues to be a bright spot in financial support for students with a series of attractive scholarship policies. The study encouragement scholarship is worth up to 120% of tuition fees per semester, taken from 8% of the total tuition fund to encourage excellent students. In addition, the Polytechnic Scholarship and Development Support Fund of 40 billion VND and the corporate scholarship system sponsoring more than 16 billion VND each year have supported thousands of disadvantaged students to excel in their studies.

In particular, the preferential loan policy with 0% interest rate continues to be effective at the University of Science and Technology. Programs such as the University of Science and Technology Student Support Fund (CK82), the loan guarantee program and interest support of the Phu Tho - University of Science and Technology Alumni Community have disbursed more than 16 billion VND in the past 3 years. Some loans can also be converted into scholarships if students achieve good results.

At Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade (HUIT), Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Xuan Hoan - Principal of the school said that in the 2025-2026 school year, the school will spend 55.73 billion VND on scholarships and student support activities - an increase of nearly 8 billion VND compared to the previous year. This source of funding is used to provide scholarships to encourage learning, scholarships for disadvantaged students, and support for study and living expenses.

Previously, in the 2024-2025 school year, HUIT implemented student support programs with a total budget of nearly 50 billion VND, including: 23 billion VND in scholarships to encourage learning, 3 billion VND to support students overcoming difficulties, nearly 2 billion VND in rewards for outstanding individuals, nearly 6 billion VND in tuition reduction for siblings studying together, 200 million VND for new valedictorians and salutatorians. In addition, HUIT continues to reduce 50% of the first semester tuition for new students in majors with high demand for human resources such as: Thermal Engineering, Nutrition and Culinary Science, Food Processing Science, Textile Technology, etc.

At the University of Finance and Marketing, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Phung - Deputy Head of Admissions and Business Relations Department said that the school plans to spend 50.5 billion VND to support new students in 2025. In addition to scholarships for valedictorians, salutatorians, students with good academic performance and students from difficult circumstances, the school also proactively connects with businesses to increase the source of scholarships. "The important thing is that students must study hard to seize the opportunity," Ms. Phung emphasized.

Not only public universities are committed to implementing large scholarship packages, private universities are also actively participating to support new students in the 2025 enrollment season. Van Lang University plans to award more than 8,000 scholarships with a total value of more than 70 billion VND to new students.

At Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH), new students have the opportunity to receive a HUTECH Scholarship worth 25% of tuition fees if they achieve high scores in their high school transcripts. After applying the scholarship, the school is committed to not increasing tuition fees for the 2025 course during the entire study period. The school also implements many diverse scholarship policies such as Talent Scholarship, Support Scholarship, Education Scholarship, Family Scholarship with values from 25%, 50%, 75% to 100% of tuition fees for the entire course.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/tuyen-sinh-2025-thi-sinh-can-doi-bai-toan-tai-chinh-post741436.html