Tuition fees suddenly increase, students are upset

Students of Nha Trang University and Hai Duong University of Medical Technology and Pharmacy were upset after suddenly receiving notice of new tuition fees, which increased by about 20-30% compared to the old level.

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, the news of the school suddenly increasing tuition fees caused a stir on the 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 the 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 get 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 with a high level of quality, is similar. In early September, the system displayed the first semester tuition fee of about 13 million VND for 9 subjects (22 credits). Ngan had 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 was upset.

Phuong Nga's tuition fee was announced on the morning of October 3. Photo: Provided by the character — Phuong Nga's tuition fee was announced on the morning of October 3. Photo: *Provided by the character*

Similarly, at Hai Duong Medical Technical University , many students were also upset 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 information in the enrollment plan announced in April, the monthly tuition fee for this major is VND2.09 million. But on September 24, the school announced that it would charge VND2.59 million per month for the first semester. Linh said that this amount increased by nearly VND300,000 per credit.

"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 to study, we don't know if we can survive because the tuition fee increase has led to many other things increasing," Linh said.

For the Medical major, according to the school's plan, tuition for students admitted this year is expected to be 2.76 million VND per month. The remaining majors are 2.09 million VND. However, the school's latest announcement clearly states that the first semester tuition for the Medical major is 3.43 million VND, Nursing is 2.09 million VND and other majors is 2.59 million VND.

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

Tuition fees for previous courses at this school have also increased. Thanh Mai, a senior student majoring in Medical Laboratory Technology, said that tuition fees "suddenly" increased from about 405,000 VND per credit to 524,000 VND, meaning a semester could increase by about 2 million VND.

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

Campus of Hai Duong University of Medical Technology. Photo: School Fanpage — Campus of Hai Duong University of Medical Technology. Photo: *School Fanpage*

Responding to VnExpress on the afternoon of October 3, Dr. Pham Hong Manh, Head of the Planning and Finance Department of Nha Trang University, said that the school has just decided to temporarily collect tuition fees according to the roadmap proposed by the Ministry 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 to 390,000 VND per credit for final year students, and 340,000 to 450,000 VND for other students. For some majors that have passed quality accreditation, the price of a specialized credit is 440,000 to 490,000 VND.

Explaining why the tuition fee shown on student accounts in September was lower, causing many students who had paid enough hours to miss out, Mr. Manh said the system automatically updated the level from last year and the school had not yet announced it.

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

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 introduced in April. The school only said that it had carefully considered the new tuition fees.

According to Decree 81 of 2021 on public tuition fees, the tuition ceiling for the Medical and Pharmaceutical group at non-autonomous schools is 2.09-2.76 million VND per month, exactly as the level proposed by Hai Duong Medical Technical University in the project. Schools have ensured that regular expenses are 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. Some other schools such as Hanoi Law University collect according to Decree 81, saying they will refund if the revised decree sets a lower rate. The rest, most private schools, not affected by Decree 81, have increased tuition fees, commonly by 5-10%.

Duong Tam - Le Nguyen

*Student's name has been changed

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