Year: 2013

“Revitalizing Vietnam’s Economic Miracle”

Mark A. Ashwill Commentary, Presentation , ,

Last month, I was invited to speak to a group of U.S. students who are participating in a fall study abroad program that begins in HCMC and spends the remainder of the semester in Hanoi.  My assigned topic was Revitalizing Vietnam’s Economic Miracle.  After a brief refresher on Vietnam in the recent past, I took them on a … Continue reading “Revitalizing Vietnam’s Economic Miracle”

Record Number of International & Vietnamese Students in the U.S.

Mark A. Ashwill Announcement, Updates , ,

It's morning in America on Monday, 11 November, time for the annual Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange press conference!  According to the Institute of International Education's (IIE) 2013 report, the number of international students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities increased by 7% to a record high of 819,644 students in the 2012/13 academic year.  (Note:  The … Continue reading Record Number of International & Vietnamese Students in the U.S.

Gaming the System, International Student-Style

Mark A. Ashwill Commentary , , ,

Gaming the system (also referred to as gaming the rules, bending the rules, abusing the system, milking the system, playing the system, or working the system) can be defined as using the rules and procedures meant to protect a system in order, instead, to manipulate the system for a desired outcome. Here’s a relevant hypothetical … Continue reading Gaming the System, International Student-Style

FSO Michael T. Sestak Pleads Guilty in Visa Fraud-Bribery Case, Faces 19-24 Years in Prison

Mark A. Ashwill Reblog, Updates , , ,

Reposted from – Domani Spero On November 6, USDOJ announced that Michael T. Sestak, the former Nonimmigrant Visa Section Chief at the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City had pleaded guilty to “receiving more than $3 million in bribes” in exchange for U.S. visas.  The Government alleged that the visa scheme had netted … Continue reading FSO Michael T. Sestak Pleads Guilty in Visa Fraud-Bribery Case, Faces 19-24 Years in Prison

U.S. Higher Education Admissions: Something for Everyone (?)

Mark A. Ashwill Commentary, Workshop , , ,

I was recently invited to speak to a group of admissions colleagues from Vietnam National University (VNU)-Hanoi in a workshop entitled “Dossier Evaluation and Interviews in Competence-Based University Admissions," organized by that institution's Institute for Education Quality Assurance in Kim Boi, Hoa Binh. During two morning sessions, I discussed some distinguishing features of U.S. higher education, including size and … Continue reading U.S. Higher Education Admissions: Something for Everyone (?)

Vietnam should teach kindness to children

Mark A. Ashwill Articles, Commentary, Interview , , ,

This is an interview I recently did with Tuổi Trẻ.  Note:  The title is from the editor. Editor’s Note: Mark Ashwill is the managing director and founder of Capstone Vietnam, a human resource development company that provides education and training solutions. He was the country director of the Institute of International Education in Vietnam from 2005 to … Continue reading Vietnam should teach kindness to children

Two Universities Request Permission to Charge $5,000 for Tuition

Mark A. Ashwill Articles, Commentary , , , ,

As everyone knows, establishing and maintaining a quality university does not come cheap.  The Vietnamese-Germany University, which is an example of cooperation between the Vietnamese and German governments (i.e., the state of Hessen), was established in September 2009 in HCMC with total investment capital of $177.14 million, 90% of which is from foreign loans.  The University of Science … Continue reading Two Universities Request Permission to Charge $5,000 for Tuition

“Vietnam battles with poor quality education”

Mark A. Ashwill Articles, Conferences , ,

Viet Nam's education system is grappling with substandard training and dire shortage of teachers, according to a conference held in Ha Noi last week. This lead-off sentence in a 29 August article about the state of Vietnam's educational system pretty much sums it up, as another new school year begins.  Pham Do Nhat Tien, former assistant to the … Continue reading “Vietnam battles with poor quality education”