In many countries, the non-profit model (PLN - or Vietnam uses the concept of not for profit) has many superior characteristics, helping these universities develop well. It is no coincidence that in the world university rankings, in addition to the majority of public schools, most of the highly ranked private schools are PLN schools. A group of these schools also often occupy the highest rankings in the rankings. The simple reason is because these schools have the ability, and really invest heavily in the quality of education.

The reason they can invest like that is because they do not have to share profits with investors or owners. In fact, these schools are not owned by any specific individual (group). In addition, for many private universities, although tuition is expensive, it is still lower than the total cost of education. Therefore, these schools only focus on recruiting the right students without the motivation to recruit many students (because the more students they recruit, the more they "lose").

The principle of no profit sharing and the ability to mobilize and develop a sustainable source of funding are core issues that help PLN private universities create significant differences compared to other university models.

How to promote the core characteristics of the PLN university model in Vietnam: no profit sharing to owners and the ability to mobilize funding?

To ensure the principle of no profit sharing, the Law on Amendments and Supplements to a Number of Articles of the Law on Higher Education (GDĐH) 2018 clearly stipulates in the legal document but still recognizes investors as owners of these schools. Meanwhile, the GDĐH 2012 Law on Higher Education, on the contrary, only limits the number of investors participating in the Board of Directors (BOD, meaning that investors are no longer the owners of the university), but allows shareholders to receive dividends although the dividend level is controlled: not higher than the interest rate of government bonds. In other words, the GDĐH 2012 Law on Higher Education eliminates most of the motivation for personal gain, because investors do not control the BOD, but retain the motivation to mobilize the community to participate in funding (with a reasonable condition) for PLN University. In other words, the 2012 Law on Higher Education appears to be more suitable than the 2018 Law on Amendments to a number of articles of the Law on Higher Education in promoting the PLN private university model.

In addition to considering returning to the provisions of the 2012 Higher Education Law, in the next revision of the law, it is possible to improve the 2012 Higher Education Law to better suit the Vietnamese context. First, only those who contribute money can participate in the Board of Directors, but the election of members of the Board of Directors must follow the principle of human relations, not capital relations. Second, it is possible to consider amending the regulation that contributors receive dividends by stipulating that contributors receive a fixed annual interest regardless of the school's operating situation. This will help contributors feel more secure. Of course, in this case of financial mobilization, financial reports and investment portfolios must be carefully monitored. Third, there needs to be a tax exemption mechanism (possibly small) to encourage businesses to contribute money to develop PLN University. Large contributions are necessary for the school to be able to invest in a long-term and strategic manner.

The important thing to affirm is that we support the real PLN model, and this model cannot be developed by administrative orders. Therefore, we should not force private universities to follow the PLN model. This imposition will easily lead to a fake PLN model - schools will only take advantage of policy incentives without creating benefits for society.