Fees surround new students, 'when children go to school, the whole family has to keep quiet'

This year's admission season, Do Bao Long (18 years old, Dak Lak) became a new student at the Vietnam Aviation Academy. However, the joy did not last long, the announcement of admission along with the amount of money that must be paid before the enrollment date, the male student and his family turned into a state of anxiety.

According to the school's requirements, before submitting the application for admission directly, new students must temporarily pay a tuition fee of 15.1 million VND/semester (including health insurance).

"In addition to the above tuition fees, when coming to complete admission procedures, new students continue to pay the following fees: uniform fee (about 800,000 VND/student), photo fee and student card printing fee (50,000 VND), health check fee (60,000 VND). The total amount to be paid is over 16 million VND," Long calculated.

New students are under pressure from the burden of university tuition fees. (Illustration photo)

The male student confided that both his parents are workers, with a total income of about 13 million VND per month. Long has a younger brother in 9th grade. The family is not very well off, so going to university is a big effort for the male student.

10X plans to work part-time after stabilizing his studies to help his parents with living expenses while attending university. "In the short term, to reduce financial pressure, I try to spend frugally," Long said.

Sharing the same concern, Tran Hong Hanh, a new student at Dong Nai University, also felt pressured when looking at the amount of money temporarily paid for the first semester.

In addition to the provisional tuition fee of more than 6.7 million VND for the first semester of the 2024-2025 school year, the school has 8 other additional fees to pay, including: health check-up fee of 120,000 VND; voluntary accident insurance fee of 120,000 VND; compulsory health insurance fee of 1.1 million VND; sportswear fee of 150,000 VND; life skills certificate fee of 320,000 VND, English proficiency test for students from 100,000 - 120,000 VND; student card with integrated library card of 30,000 VND; admission documents of 50,000 VND.

The total amount of money Hanh had to pay on the first day of school was about 9 million VND. In addition to the school fees, the family also had to prepare money for their daughter to buy a laptop, rent a room and living expenses for the first month. The total cost also amounted to more than 20 million VND. "For her to go to university, the whole family probably had to cut down on spending and reduce spending a lot to have enough," the female student shared.

The provisional fee collected by the University of Transport is more than 10.6 million VND.

Pham Hoai An, a new student at the International School (Hanoi National University) also received a list of 4 fees at the beginning of the year. Of which, the provisional tuition fee for the first semester is nearly 20 million VND. The health check fee at the beginning of the course is 180,000 VND, the health insurance fee is more than 1 million VND and the body insurance (voluntary) is 500,000 VND.

To have enough money for their child to go to school, Hoai An's parents have been saving for many months. The most economical calculation shows that on average, each month, a female student studying in Hanoi spends at least 8 million VND, including: 4 million VND for tuition, 4 million VND for food, accommodation, and living expenses.

"My parents are freelancers, with unstable income, some months they have a lot, some months they have a little. Recently, the family had to save money to treat their grandfather's illness, so the economy has somewhat declined," Hoai An said, adding that getting into her dream school was a great joy, but when she went to school, she felt discouraged because the tuition was too high, higher than previous years. The 10X worried that the large sum of money for university could put her parents under financial pressure.

The provisional tuition fee of Banking Academy this year is from 14-23 million VND.

Tuition fees are now a concern for many new students, as most schools have announced tuition increases for the 2024-2025 school year. According to MSc. Pham Thai Son, Director of the Admissions and Communications Center of Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, it is undeniable that many majors and many schools have quite expensive tuition fees, requiring large financial resources, so it will become a challenge for many low-income families.

However, nowadays, the Government, schools and many organizations have tuition support programs and scholarships for students in difficult circumstances. Therefore, new students can seek these opportunities to reduce the financial burden on their families.

Kim Anh

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/cac-khoan-phi-bua-vay-tan-sinh-vien-con-di-hoc-ca-nha-phai-nhin-mieng-ar893095.html