ICEF Monitor (4 November 2014)

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 Mark 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.”

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