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INTERNATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION

US Institutions Find Fertile Ground in Vietnam's Expanding Higher Education Market

Mark A. Ashwill
Mark A. Ashwill is director of the Institute of International Education-Vietnam. Address: Institute of International Education (IIE), C9-Giang Vo, Ba Dinh, Hanoi, Vietnam. E-mail: mashwill@iievn.org. The longer version of the article (and Web-based resources) can be obtained by contacting the author.

Unscrupulous companies often make unsubstantiated and sometimes false claims about their products and tend to prefer uninformed consumers. Conversely, reputable ones provide accurate information and call on their customers to educate themselves about what they are selling—even encouraging them to engage in comparison shopping. In fact, one well-known US discount clothing company has adopted this concept as its slogan: "An Educated Consumer is Our Best Customer."

Unfortunately, in the borderless world of international higher education, many institutions prefer that the whole truth not be known about the circumstances under which they were established and the nature and quality of the programs they offer. This goal is much easier to achieve once they begin operating in a foreign country. In a sense, these institutions are preying on "uneducated consumers" (students and parents) who yearn for the quality and prestige of a US education and degree at an affordable price.

Vietnam's Higher Education Market
In Vietnam, the "education business" is booming, opportunities for expansion are vast, but reliable information and guidance are difficult to obtain. Demand for higher education is strong, and as the government has acknowledged, the current system is unable to meet it. According to a survey conducted by Vietnam's Ministry of Health, the General Statistics Office, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF, 90 percent of general students in Vietnam want to enter a university; in reality, only 10 percent fulfill their dream. In Vietnam, 30.7 percent of urban young people graduate from high school, while only 21.11 percent of their rural counterparts achieve that goal. Similarly, about 14 percent of urban youth graduate from university; that figure is 1.5 percent for rural areas.

Since the cost of higher education in the United States is prohibitive and there is no guarantee of obtaining a student visa, US degree programs offered in-country or through distance learning are attractive options for many students in Vietnam. Furthermore, because Vietnamese are brand name conscious, US institutions naturally have a competitive advantage in the higher education market. For many, "made in the USA" is synonymous with quality. Vietnamese universities, in turn, are actively seeking US and other foreign academic partners to develop these programs for the many tangible (e.g., quality academic programs, additional revenue, training future professors and researchers for the university) and intangible benefits (e.g., prestige, improved academic discourse) that accrue.

A growing number of US universities and colleges, most accredited but some not, are looking to Vietnam as a lucrative market for online and in-country education and training programs. Most of these institutions are well intentioned; their primary goal is to meet an urgent need and provide a quality education at the lowest possible cost.

Other US higher education institutions, however, see a golden opportunity to reap substantial profits from a market that has rosy long-term prospects. Those institutions are well aware that there are many parents who cannot afford to send their child for overseas study but can afford the price tag of an in-country degree program or would prefer that their child earn a foreign university degree at home. There are also many employed people with families and other commitments for whom overseas study is not an option.

Unaccredited (or University in Name Only)
A number of unaccredited US institutions have either attempted to do business or are currently doing business in Vietnam and many other countries. They actively seek out markets around the world in which consumers are uninformed, unsophisticated, keenly interested in foreign degree programs, and, in a word, vulnerable. It is in countries like Vietnam that these higher education providers find fertile ground, receptive audiences, and profit potential.

American Capital University (ACU), which was based in the diploma mill haven of Wyoming, once cooperated with the Singapore Management Training Centre (later called the "Senior Management Training Centre") to offer an MBA program in Vietnam. (The ACU and SMTC, which was affiliated with Michael Yu's SITC, are now defunct.) Like the SITC English-language training centers, students involved with the SMTC MBA ended up losing thousands of dollars, as victims of fraud.

Accredited but Questionable
This is yet another category of institutions: those that have entered (or wish to enter) Vietnam's education market but offer very different programs in the United States than in Vietnam. The analogy would be a doctor whose specialization is podiatry in one country but who practices heart surgery in another.

For example, one US private, for-profit institution has negotiated partnerships with several well-known Vietnamese universities to offer BA and MBA programs. In the United States, this institution is an online university, but in Vietnam it is offering instruction with the use of US "mentors," Vietnamese teaching assistants, and some combination of distance-learning tools.

There are two factors to consider with this type of institution. First, what is the quality of the education and training being provided? What are the standards for hiring teachers? Second, the quality of the institution awarding the degree affects the value of the degree now and in the future. If this institution is not taken seriously or viewed as substandard, the diploma and degree holder will be viewed in the same light.

Conclusion
In the wake of the recent SITC scandal, the Ministry of Education and Training has requested inspections of licensing, fees, and curricula at foreign-owned training centers. According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, 72 foreign-invested training projects have been licensed, including one higher education project, five international general schools, three kindergartens, and 63 short-term training projects in IT, foreign language, and vocational training. As with their Vietnamese counterparts, foreign institutions—both in-country and in their country of origin—must be held accountable for their actions. A free market does not mean freedom to exploit and to defraud.

It is my hope that the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training remains vigilant and makes every effort to approve only programs that benefit students, host institutions, and Vietnam as a whole. Quality programs that produce well-trained professionals and add to intellectual diversity are essential for Vietnam's development.

It is also my hope that the financial well runs dry and the doors begin to close for unaccredited institutions and education businesses that aim to take advantage of "uneducated consumers." My fear, however, is that these educational enterprises will continue to operate because of inadequate oversight, too much money, and the reality of credential inflation.

As we do with our educational advising, IIE-Vietnam will continue to provide free, unbiased, and accurate information about US institutions, be they in the United States or Vietnam, so that more Vietnamese will become educated and empowered consumers of foreign degree and other training programs. Vietnam is a poor country that can ill afford to squander precious resources, which inevitably results when programs make promises they cannot keep and replace the pursuit of knowledge with profit.

[Online] Available: http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/newsletter/Number44/p13_Ashwill.htm