Vietnam has emerged as a fast-growing emerging source country for international students.
Universities looking to diversify their international student cohorts and address a possible over-reliance on China should look to Vietnam.
Higher education in Vietnam is grappling with a chronic shortage of qualified faculty amidst a dramatic growth in tertiary student numbers.
According to the World Education News & Reviews (WENR), while the number of students has increased 13 times over two decades, the number of lecturers increased just threefold.
The student to teacher ratio increased from 6:1 to 28:1, meaning each student gets less individual attention.
A lack of quality education domestically has been a major push factor for the Vietnameseto study abroad and families are willing to pay high fees for overseas education.
On average, families spend nearly half (47%) of their household expenditure on schooling alone.
Together this amounts to $3-4 billion spent studying abroad annually.
According to UNESCO, the top destination markets for Vietnamese students include:
- Japan
- USA
- Australia
