Sky-high private school deposit fees

Hanoi has more than 100 non-public high schools, enrolling tens of thousands of 10th graders each year. Private high schools often enroll students early, some starting in December of the previous year. This makes parents worry about the high registration and reservation fees when applying to 10th grade at private schools.

2025 is not only the first year that 9th grade students will review for the 10th grade entrance exam according to the 2018 General Education Program (New General Education Program); but it is also the pressure of the race to enter public schools when the Hanoi People's Committee has issued a Plan for admission to 10th grade high school for the 2025-2026 school year, with an estimated number of 127,000 students in the city taking the junior high school graduation exam. Of which, only about 60% of candidates are in the race to enter public high schools with about 79,000 students. The remaining 48,000 candidates will enter private high schools, continuing education centers, and vocational training institutions.

Many private high schools in Hanoi have begun accepting applications for grade 10 for the 2025-2026 school year based on secondary school transcripts. In addition to tuition and expected fees such as boarding services and shuttle buses, many schools notify parents to pay an additional fee, which each school uses a different name such as: Admission fee, reservation fee, registration fee, enrollment fee, etc. This fee is determined by the school itself. If the student enrolls, this amount is usually deducted from the tuition fee. If not enrolled, depending on the school, parents may receive a partial, full, or no refund.

Actual records show that the reservation fees of private high schools in Hanoi in 2025 are ranging from several million to tens of millions of VND. In 2025, Archimedes High School maintained a reservation fee of 23 million VND, Luong The Vinh High School collected 15 million VND. 15 million VND is also the reservation fee of Olympia High School. Meanwhile, Wellspring International Bilingual High School collected 25 million VND, Hoang Mai Star School listed the reservation fee at 24 million VND (high quality system); 26.5 million VND (gifted system). In addition, many other private high schools have reservation fees ranging from 1 to 10 million VND.

Not until this admission season, the deposit for private schools has been a controversial item for many years, because it is not included in any regulations but is an agreement between the school and parents. Currently, there are many different opinions on the collection of deposit fees for private high schools. The schools believe that only when the deposit fee is high, can the school filter out students and parents who have real needs, desire to study, and are attached to the school. The deposit is to limit the virtual rate, causing difficulties in admission, and at the same time, for families to consider and be responsible for their choices.

Parents are concerned that, due to the increasing pressure to get into public schools, their frantic search for private schools for their children before the entrance exam to public high schools is actually still a 50/50 choice. Ms. Thanh Mai (Academy of Journalism and Communication Residential Area - Cau Giay, Hanoi) said that her family is very concerned about the "deposit" of up to tens of millions of VND because if her child passes the entrance exam to Cau Giay High School, she will send her child to a public school. If she does not get her deposit back, it means she has lost a month's income.

Previously, at the conference on enrollment guidance for the 2024-2025 school year, Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training Tran The Cuong said that private schools collecting deposit fees is inhumane and destroys the pedagogical nature of the school. Mr. Cuong also suggested that private schools should not collect deposit fees and create maximum conditions for parents and students to withdraw their applications when needed.

It is known that the choice to send children to private schools is based on both objective conditions (students' academic performance/test scores) and subjective conditions (families' spending levels). Each choice has its reasons, and the amount of money paid to schools is based on agreement. However, to ensure uniform private school enrollment, ensure the rights of students, and prevent education from becoming a business environment, thorough guidance from the management agency is needed.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/phi-giu-cho-truong-tu-cao-ngat-nguong-10301454.html