University Entrance Examination is very important to Vietnamese students. High school graduates have to take it and get high results to be admitted to universities. The pressure on the candidates remains very high despite the measures that have been taken to reduce the heat around these exams, since securing a place in a state university is considered a major step towards a successful career for young people, especially those from rural areas or disadvantaged families. In the year 2004, it was estimated that nearly 1 million Vietnamese students took the University Entrance Examination, but on average only 1 out of 5 candidates succeeded. Normally, candidates take 3 exam subjects, and each lasts 180 minutes for the fixed group of subjects they choose. There are 4 fixed groups of subjects: Group A: Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry; Group B: Mathematics, Chemistry and Biology; Group C: Literature, History, and Geography; Group D: Literature, Foreign Language, and Mathematics.
In addition to universities, there are community colleges, art and technology institutes, professional secondary schools, and vocational schools which offer degrees or certificates from a-few-month to 2-year courses.
According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training, there are currently 23 non-public universities, accounting for 11% of the total number of universities. These non-public universities are currently training 119,464 students or 11.7% of the total number of students. The government is planning to increase the number of non-public universities to 30% by 2007.