New students are shocked by a series of fees other than tuition, including 'duplicate scanning' fees

Some universities charge many fees other than tuition fees when applying for admission, making students shocked and parents upset.

Students learn about 2025 enrollment information of Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: TRAN HUYNH

Many people wonder if university tuition fees are determined in a "correct and adequate" manner and are continuously increasing according to a roadmap, but schools continue to "give birth" to confusing fees.

Dozens of fees other than tuition

Reflecting to Tuoi Tre , many parents whose children were admitted to Ho Chi Minh City Banking University this year said they were "really shocked" when they received the list of fees collected at the beginning of the school year from this school.

This year, Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City continues to collect many different fees in addition to tuition: admission fee (student card integrated with bank card and library card, student confirmation) 280,000 VND; library fee 760,000 VND; English test fee at the beginning of the course 560,000 VND; IT test fee 563,000 VND; health examination fee 100,000 VND; boarding examination fee 30,000 VND, application fee and dormitory card when being considered for admission 150,000 VND... These are mandatory fees.

There are also other voluntary fees such as standard English in the level 4/6 training program - level 1 is 4,500,000 VND, level 2 is 9,000,000 VND...

N., a new student majoring in banking and finance at the Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City, wondered: "When my friends applied for admission to many other universities in Ho Chi Minh City, they only paid tuition and compulsory health insurance, but my school required them to pay dozens of different fees.

I don't know if we will use the library or not, but the school charges a mandatory fee. Even student ID cards and dormitory fees are charged.

Fees that Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City requires new students for the 2025-2026 school year to pay when completing admission procedures

Meanwhile, new students at Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport were surprised by the "strange" requirements and fees when completing online admission procedures.

In addition to the provisional tuition fee (depending on the training program), the list of fees collected by the school for each new student also includes: accident insurance 200,000 VND/4 years, "citizen - student" political activities at the beginning of the course 150,000 VND, duplicate scanning system 150,000 VND, use of digital library documents 90,000 VND/course...

Many new students and parents are wondering about the "strange" fees mentioned above at this school. "We really don't understand what the duplicate scanning system is. Why does the school collect the fee for using the digital library for students who have not enrolled yet and have no need to use it? All universities organize political activities at the beginning of the semester, so which school collects the fee?" - many parents wonder.

"No new revenue generated, ensuring compliance with regulations"

Speaking to Tuoi Tre, MSc. Nguyen Thi Hong - Vice Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport - affirmed: "The school does not generate any revenue, all are collected according to regulations. The school's non-tuition revenue is stable as every year, no additional revenue has arisen and the collection level has not increased from 2023 to now. As for SMS text messaging fees, the school has eliminated them since converting the number of students who can see them on their personal pages."

Explaining the "duplicate scanning" fee, Ms. Hong said that according to training regulations, students must ensure the honesty of their learning and research products, so they must check for duplicate scanning before submitting.

To ensure academic integrity and prevent plagiarism (similar to international and prestigious universities in Vietnam), schools must pay copyright fees for the Turnitin system, and students are checked for plagiarism in all subjects from year 1 until writing their graduation thesis.

The first-term civic activity is based on the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training . This activity is outside the training program, not included in the tuition fee collection activities. This fee is only to cover the costs of facilities, organization, documents, and reporters.

Regarding the cost of using digital library documents, schools need to invest in technology infrastructure, servers, management software, transmission lines, data security; data security maintenance costs, and annual upgrades. Copyrights for books, textbooks, and documents: purchasing the rights to e-books, e-documents, accessing international databases, and scientific journals - these costs are often very large.

Students cannot download copyrighted documents, protected by intellectual property laws, online. According to the Library Law 2019, a digital library is required. The school charges a fee for providing library services according to the law.

"This year the school does not charge for the English proficiency test," Ms. Hong added.

Meanwhile, Tuoi Tre reporters also forwarded questions from new students and parents about the fees to Mr. Nguyen Van Thuy - Head of Admissions and Communications Department of Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City, and received the response: "I will forward this information to relevant departments for feedback according to regulations."

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TRAN HUYNH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tan-sinh-vien-soc-voi-loat-khoan-thu-ngoai-hoc-phi-co-ca-khoan-thu-quet-trung-lap-20250915151349342.htm