10 Nov

Number of Vietnamese students abroad up 15% in 2013

We have published two significant updates on Vietnam over the past 18 months. The first, a guest post from market specialist and international educator Dr Mark Ashwill, provides a strong foundation in the important trends and conditions that have shaped the Vietnamese education market in recent years.


A second post, “Spotlight on Vietnam: quality issues, demand for study abroad and graduate employability,” offers updated information on outbound student numbers through 2012, and on the important relationship between quality of education and employment opportunities at home and the demand for study abroad.

 


Both posts point to an important education market in Southeast Asia, one where outbound mobility has grown strongly over the past decade and where demand for study abroad continues to be driven by concerns over capacity and quality in the domestic education system, and also by a hot economy and rising family incomes.


The country’s youthful population – 45% are 25 years of age or younger – is therefore highly motivated and increasingly able to pursue studies abroad. As Dr Ashwill has noted, over 90% of outbound students are self-funded and total spending on overseas education amounted to roughly 1% of GDP in 2013.


A market commentary prepared by Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs adds, “While both parents and students are involved in decision making, parents have the most at stake in the choice of country as they are the main providers of financial support. Students are more influential in the choice of institutions and major.”


Even so, much of the recent growth in international student numbers from Vietnam occurred in the period from 2006 to 2010. Growth was modest-to-non-existent in 2011 and 2012, leading some to wonder if demand in this promising emerging market had started to cool.


If the recently released figures on 2013 enrolment are any indication, however, Vietnam is showing renewed signs of strengthening demand for study abroad and may be poised for further growth.


The Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training reports that 125,000 Vietnamese students studied abroad in 2013. This represents a 15% increase over 2012 and the largest year-over-year jump since 2008/09.


The top ten destinations for Vietnamese students in 2013 (both secondary and postsecondary) were as follows:


1.     Australia – 26,015 students, up 15.3% over 2012
2.     US – 19,591 students, up 25.8% over 2012
3.     Japan – 13,328
4.     China – 13,000
5.     Singapore – 10,000
6.     France – 6,700
7.     Taiwan – 6,000
8.     UK – 5,118
9.     Russia – 5,000
10.   Germany – 4,600


In keeping with recent-year trends, the two top destinations – Australia and the US – accounted for about 37% of all outbound enrolment from Vietnam in 2013. Major regional destinations, primarily China, Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan, accounted for another 34%. Interestingly though, Japan became the third-ranked destination in 2013, nudging China out of a spot that it had held for some time.


Australia and the US, meanwhile, have been the top-ranked destinations for several years now. As we noted earlier, “Vietnamese students reportedly regard higher education in the US as ‘the best in the world’ and ‘as a priority worthy of significant financial investment.’… Cost appears to be the main obstacle preventing a greater number of Vietnamese students from pursuing studies in the US… the US is perceived as being more expensive than alternate destinations such as Singapore or Australia.”


Foreshadowing future growth


Another interesting indicator of developing enrolment trends for Vietnam comes in the form of a July 2014 report on international secondary school enrolment in the US. Published by the Institute of International Education (IIE), Charting new pathways to higher education: International secondary students in the United States makes the point that international enrolment at the secondary level has grown dramatically over the past decade and has “more than tripled” from fall 2004 to fall 2013.


An accompanying IIE press release highlights that “there were 73,019 international students pursuing a secondary-level education in the United States, with 48,632 or 67% of these enrolled for a full diploma… Most of the nearly 49,000 diploma-seeking students at US high schools are from Asia (with 46% of this segment coming from China).”


But if the majority of international high school students in the US come from China or South Korea, notable percentages are also drawn from emerging markets such as Brazil, Thailand, and Vietnam. As the following table illustrates, Vietnam accounts for a higher percentage of international secondary school enrolment in the US (3.1%) than it does postsecondary enrolment (2.0%).


 
Top places of origin of international secondary and postsecondary students in the US, 2013. Source: IIE


Vietnam was by far the leading Southeast Asian market for US secondary schools in 2013, accounting for roughly half of all enrolment from the region in that year. In Australia, meanwhile, Vietnamese students accounted for 10.3% of international secondary students in 2013, the second-largest national group after only China.


We note that the IIE report shows only data for 2013 and so we are not looking at multi-year trends here. Even so, there at least two interesting implications for recruitment marketing in Vietnam:


•    First, it looks like Vietnamese families are sending their students abroad at an earlier age and this appears to echo comparable trends that have been observed in major Asian markets, notably China.
•    Second, an increasing pool of Vietnamese secondary school graduates in major destination countries represents an emerging and ever more significant recruitment channel for postsecondary providers in those markets.


Vietnam is a notable emerging market today. If these trends toward increasing outbound mobility along with expanded enrolment at the secondary level continue, it will only become a more important source of international students in the years ahead – both for established destinations such as Australia and the US but also for alternate destinations that can offer a compelling combination of quality and affordability.

Read 17562 times Last modified on 11 Nov
Rate this item
(2 votes)

Leave a comment

Make sure you enter the (*) required information where indicated. HTML code is not allowed.

Calendar

« October 2024 »
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
  1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31      

Hot Programs

U.S. Student Visa Renewal

Temporary visitors, returning students/exchange visitors, temporary workers and intra-company tra

Dual enrollment

In education, dual enrollment (DE) involves students being enrolled in two separate, academically

Internship Program

DescriptionPart 1: English Studies - 50% of your programStudents begin studies in General English

Student Exchange Program

A student exchange program is a program in which students from a secondary school or university s

Post-Graduate Certificate

Human Resources Management Post-Graduate Certificate The Challenge of Change   Today’s human r

ESL Summer Camp

 ESL Summer Camp   ESL Summer Camp at Hobart and William Smith Colleges (HWS) is an on-campus r

Professional programs

Professional certificates awarded by universities Many universities grant professional certifica

College Tours

Before choosing the best college to attend, it is important for students to test the waters. Maki

English (UK)Vietnamese
to chuc su kien, to chuc su kien

Dự n chung cư Tn Hong Minh d le roi soleil quang an Ty Hồ, H Nội. Dự n chung cu 23 le duan Q1, TP. HCM, chủ đầu tư Tn Hong Minh. Cng ty cho thue san khau tổ chức sự kiện uy tn tại H Nội. Dịch vụ cho thue o du gi rẻ nhất. Cng ty cho thue backdrop uy tn tại H Nội - nhiều mẫu m đẹp. Dịch vụ chua tac tia sua tại nh, cam kết hiệu quả 100%. Xưởng sản xuất may ep cam vien chăn nui, my p cm vin mini cho thỏ, g, vịt, chim bồ cu. Kho xưởng sản xuất long cong nghiep gi rẻ tại h nội, lồng chim bồ cu, lồng thỏ, lồng g Dịch vụ thue chu re đẹp trai, cao ro, cam kết bảo mật thng tin. Cng ty cung cấp, cho thue nguoi dai dien cưới hỏi ton quốc.