Private higher education in Vietnam

Private higher education in Vietnam is poised for a significant expansion over the coming years. Many questions remain unanswered, though, concerning how the expansion will be regulated and funded. In the Higher Education Reform Agenda (HEAR), the government made a commitment to expanding the sector so that, by 2020, it will enrol as many as 40 percent of all higher education students. Given that the sector currently enrols about 13 per cent of all students, this target is obviously very ambitious. This chapter seeks to provide an introduction to Vietnam's private higher education sector. It is informed by interviews in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang with rectors and leading members of the governing boards of various private universities. The chapter is also informed by several recent scholarly works, and by statistics and other factual material reported by the World Bank (2008) and in recent Vietnamese newspapers. [Author abstract]