Many opportunities to study abroad for free in countries where Vietnamese people are rare

The event brings together more than 50 higher education institutions from more than 15 countries.

On the afternoon of October 25, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and the International Education Consulting Center (Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Education and Training) held a study abroad exhibition that attracted hundreds of attendees. Here, universities in study abroad markets with "rare" Vietnamese people such as Finland, Belgium, Ireland, Lithuania... shared more about study opportunities at low cost, even free of charge.

Many valuable scholarships

The attractive point of Finnish education, according to Mr. Ly Tran Minh Nghia, representative of Finest Future Education Organization, is that Vietnamese students will be exempted from tuition fees from high school to university if they choose to study in Finnish. Specifically, candidates are not required to have high academic scores but only need to achieve Finnish language proficiency at level B1.1 and pass the interview with the school to be able to enroll.

Ms. Jayanthi Thevarajah, Head of Education Development for Southeast Asia at Enterprise Ireland (the Irish government's trade promotion agency), said that Ireland is currently the only English-speaking country in the European Union. The country has competitive tuition fees, ranging from 9,850-25,500 euros/year (255-661 million VND) depending on the field of study, except for medical sciences and healthcare.

Ireland is a country with many types of government scholarships for international students, according to Ms. Jayanthi Thevarajah

"We also have a variety of scholarships, from government to school level. At the government level, we have three outstanding full scholarships: the Irish government's international education scholarship, master's scholarships managed by the Irish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and postgraduate scholarships managed by the Irish Research Council," Ms. Thevarajah shared.

In Lithuania, Ms. Ilona Kazlauskaitė, Head of the International Cooperation Department at Vytautas Magnus University, said that the school has many types of scholarships, ranging from 25%, 50%, 75% and even 100% of tuition fees. For the 100% scholarship, candidates must be extremely good and talented, have many academic achievements as well as participate in volunteer activities. "Vietnam is one of the priority countries," Ms. Kazlauskaitė commented.

Meanwhile, in Romania, a representative of the University of West Timișoara said that there are 15 scholarships available each year, including five for bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees each. The scholarships include free tuition, free accommodation on campus and a monthly living allowance. "To apply, you need to have excellent academic achievements, a convincing motivation letter and a good recommendation letter from a teacher or lecturer," the representative said.

A university representative advises students about careers.

Low, competitive tuition

Another advantage of Romania is that all schools have low tuition fees, only about 2,000-3,000 USD/year (49-73 million VND), according to Dr. Teodor Turcanu, representative of Bucharest Polytechnic University. In addition, candidates can also apply for full scholarships under the agreement between the Romanian and Vietnamese governments, for all levels of study from bachelor to doctorate.

In Belgium, Niels Matheve, international outreach policy advisor at KU Leuven, said the school tries to provide “scholarships” to all students by keeping tuition fees low, ranging from 1,000-8,000 euros/year (VND25-207 million). Not to mention, if a student achieves extremely high scores with a top ranking, some programs even reduce tuition fees for that student.

"Currently, there are more than 100 Vietnamese students out of a total of 15,000 international students studying at the school. In addition to low costs, we also have many different types of scholarships. However, the number of scholarships is quite small while the school holds the top 1 ranking in Belgium, so the competition is extremely fierce," Mr. Matheve added.

With only 25 million VND, Vietnamese students have the opportunity to access education in Belgium, Mr. Niels Matheve commented.

Ms. Jana Hanskens, international admissions officer at Artevelde University of Applied Sciences, added that the Belgian government also funds education, so tuition fees are kept at a reasonable level, such as 7,265 euros/year (188 million VND) for all majors at the school. However, the lower cost compared to popular study abroad markets is also the reason why the school does not offer additional scholarships to students.

Besides Europe, Thailand is also a new destination that many Vietnamese students are interested in. Dr. Chawalit Kittichaikarn, Director of the International Bachelor's Program at Kasetsart University, said that the school's tuition fees are equivalent to those of private institutions in Vietnam, ranging from 2,900-3,500 USD/year (71-86 million VND) depending on the major for bachelor's degrees and lower for master's and doctoral degrees, respectively 2,500 USD (61 million VND) and 2,300 USD (56 million VND) per year.

"This year, to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the school's founding, we also launched the first exchange scholarship program for international students lasting for one semester. The scholarship will cover tuition fees, dormitory fees and an additional living allowance of 34,000 baht (VND 23 million) per student," Dr. Chawalit Kittichaikarn informed.

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