As difficult as failing university

When universities are "thirsty" for candidates

In 2024, the whole country has 733,600 candidates registering for university admission. The number of successful candidates in the first round is nearly 673,600. By the end of the admission confirmation period on the Ministry of Education and Training 's system, 81.87% of candidates were officially admitted.

Thus, only about 60,000 candidates will fail the university entrance exam in 2024. The reason is that candidates register for wishes beyond their capacity, while their scores still give them a chance to be admitted to other wishes. Therefore, many universities are still "thirsty" for candidates, recruiting additional candidates as soon as the first round of admission scores are announced.

This year, without early admission, many universities are “impatient” and worried because they have not been able to “catch” candidates. Some schools have used “tricks” to welcome candidates right after the registration period ends.

Gia Dinh University sent out invitations to enroll in the 2025 regular university program from the beginning of August, inviting candidates to complete admission procedures for the new student skills course with the theme of GenAI generation integrating internationally for free and receiving a certificate.

Van Hien University announced to support candidates from 50-60% of tuition fees for semester 1 and 10-30% of tuition fees for semester 2 if candidates register within the prescribed time, the second period lasts from August 1-5.

Hung Vuong University, Ho Chi Minh City, in mid-July sent out invitations to enroll in the 2025 regular university program, based on the application for admission based on academic records. Successful candidates must go to the school's facilities to complete admission procedures within the prescribed time.

On August 20, before the virtual filtering period as prescribed, Hung Vuong University in Ho Chi Minh City announced the benchmark score for the method of considering high school graduation exam results. The benchmark score ranges from 15-20/30 points. This is the university that announced the lowest threshold score for receiving application for admission this year (12/30 points).

Meanwhile, according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, the virtual filtering period must end before the admission benchmark scores can be announced (the most recent information is August 22).

However, after the Ministry of Education and Training postponed the virtual filtering time, the school withdrew this notice.

The enrollment plans of some universities also leave many concerns. For example, in the enrollment plan for 2025, Gia Dinh University released enrollment information for the last 2 years. In 2024, when the university was still allowed to consider early enrollment, 27/27 majors of the university did not have candidates confirming enrollment based on the high school graduation exam results, even though the quota and standard score were 15/30. Candidates also refused to participate in the university's method of considering the results of the Ho Chi Minh City National University's competency assessment exam.

In particular, the method of considering academic records has a number of candidates confirming their admission. In particular, the Computer Networks and Communications major has 3 zeros (no candidates confirming their admission in all 3 admission methods) even though there are 40 quotas. In 2023, the same situation will occur for all 3 admission methods of the school.

Long term consequences

In recent years, the number of candidates who passed the university entrance exam but refused to enroll is not small. The reasons come from not being accepted to their desired choice; only taking the achievement for high school while the candidate has made other choices; candidates who passed the exam but chose to study abroad...

In 2024, there were about 122,107 candidates who did not confirm their admission, accounting for 18.13% of the total number of candidates admitted in the first round. In 2023, nearly 118,000 candidates were admitted to university in the first round but did not confirm their admission. In 2022, this number was more than 103,000 candidates...

The head of a private university admitted that the number of candidates who completely fail universities in Vietnam is very small. This is the result of many factors: the enrollment quota has been expanded; the selection methods are increasingly diverse (high school graduation exam, considering academic records, international certificates, separate exams, etc.); and the clear stratification between schools from top to local and private schools. Thanks to that, most candidates can find at least one door to university.

However, this phenomenon also leaves many consequences. Firstly, university degrees are at risk of losing their classification value, because almost anyone can pass the university entrance exam, making the degree no longer a clear measure of ability.

Second, university training is at risk of exceeding market demand, especially in fields that candidates favor but society has a surplus of human resources, leading to a situation where graduates are unemployed or working in the wrong field.

Third, uneven input puts great pressure on schools, affecting training quality. This also wastes social resources.

Many families invest 3-4 years of university education for their children, but then the students cannot find jobs in their field, or have to go back to vocational training. Finally, the “university popularization” mentality has led to little attention being paid to vocational education and colleges, while the labor market is seriously lacking in technical personnel and skilled workers.

Overall, the fact that very few candidates fail the university entrance exam is not necessarily a completely positive sign. The issue is to rebalance the education system, between university and vocational training, and at the same time improve quality, instead of just expanding quantity. Only then will a university degree truly be linked to capacity and education will meet the needs of socio -economic development.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/kho-nhu-truot-dai-hoc-post1771352.tpo