Ho Chi Minh City Open University

About Ho Chi Minh City Open University

Ho Chi Minh City Open University traces its institutional origin to the Open Training Institute II, established by Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training on June 15, 1990. It became Ho Chi Minh City Semi-Public Open University in 1993 and received its current name and public status in 2006. It is now a public institution directly under the Ministry of Education and Training. The university’s defining purpose is open education: expanding access through flexible ways of studying rather than serving only conventional full-time students. Its formally stated functions include bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral education delivered through regular, part-time, distance, and other flexible formats, alongside research, technology transfer, and domestic and international cooperation. Applicants should therefore distinguish carefully among delivery modes because admissions rules, learning experience, schedules, and fees may differ. Quality assurance provides useful evidence of continuing operation. The VNU-HCM Center for Education Accreditation lists the university’s second institutional accreditation cycle, with certification valid through March 28, 2028. Current undergraduate and doctoral recruitment notices also confirm that the institution was actively admitting students in 2026. The university operates from multiple sites rather than one self-contained campus, so students should verify where their chosen program and required activities are delivered before committing.

For 2026 regular undergraduate entry, Ho Chi Minh City Open University participated in Vietnam’s common national admissions process. Selection routes included international credentials, the 2026 upper-secondary graduation examination, three-year upper-secondary academic records, the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City competency assessment, and V-SAT. The international-credential route specified IB scores of at least 26, A-Level grades of C or above in each subject, or SAT scores of at least 1100, valid within two years of the test date. Applicants registered preferences through the Ministry of Education and Training portal. For the first 2026 round, registration closed at 17:00 on July 14, results were due by August 13, national confirmation was required by 17:00 on August 21, and university enrolment procedures ran through August 24. These dates describe the 2026 cycle and should not be reused for 2027. The university evaluates candidates by program code and ranks eligible applicants from higher to lower converted scores until capacity is reached. It did not conduct a general pre-screening stage. Some achievements and language certificates could add points under the published rules, but foreign-language certificates did not replace the foreign-language subject score. The reviewed 2026 material is framed mainly around Vietnam’s national system and does not establish a separate general procedure for foreign nationals; such applicants should seek written guidance directly from admissions.

The academic model spans bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral study. Official records describe a multidisciplinary institution offering regular, part-time, distance, and flexible education, making the mode of delivery an important part of program comparison. Students should check the curriculum, teaching language, attendance expectations, and study site for the exact program rather than assuming that all offerings follow the same format. The 2026 undergraduate admissions material covers programs across fields such as business and economics, finance, accounting, law, languages, social sciences, computing, biotechnology, and construction-related study. The university also identifies advanced-program classes taught fully in English in Business Administration and Finance–Banking. Placement into those English-medium classes depends on an English placement assessment and admissions results; this should not be interpreted as evidence that every program is taught in English. Postgraduate study is independently confirmed by the university’s 2026 doctoral recruitment announcement. The announced doctoral fields include Business Administration, Economics, English Language Teaching Theory and Methodology, Construction Engineering, Finance–Banking, Biotechnology, Economic Law, and Computer Science, with Accounting identified as anticipated rather than confirmed. Doctoral applicants generally need a relevant master’s degree, or in specified circumstances an excellent relevant bachelor’s degree or another qualifying level-seven credential, plus evidence of research preparation and a proposed research plan. Prospective graduate students should consult the separate graduate-school notice for their field because requirements are not interchangeable with undergraduate admissions.

Key Highlights

• Public university directly under Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training
• Institutional origin dates to June 15, 1990
• Offers regular, continuing, distance, and other flexible study formats
• Second-cycle institutional accreditation is listed as valid through March 28, 2028

Student Life & Environment

Student life is spread across several teaching and administrative locations, so the experience is more urban and distributed than that of a single residential campus. The university’s student-services information points learners to academic advising, an online student-information system, scholarship and tuition-relief information, student-loan guidance, extracurricular calendars, and regulations governing student affairs. Clubs, teams, and student groups provide routes into activities outside class. Official university pages document academically focused organizations such as legal-skills, construction-technology, entrepreneurship, and public-speaking clubs. These examples suggest opportunities to combine subject interests with practical skills, but students should confirm which groups remain active in their intake year. The university also maintains a job portal advertising full-time and part-time opportunities. Housing requires particular attention. The student-services material directs students to rental-accommodation guidance, but the current sources reviewed do not establish a general university housing guarantee for new students. A university facility page refers to dormitory accommodation at the Long Bình/Đồng Nai site, historically associated with physical and national-defense education, but it should not be treated as proof of routine housing for every program. Applicants should ask the Student Affairs Office about current eligibility, location, cost, and commuting implications before making plans.

Location & Surroundings

The university’s main contact address is 97 Võ Văn Tần in Ho Chi Minh City, while its administrative offices are listed at 35–37 Hồ Hảo Hớn. Both are central urban locations. Additional sites are listed in other parts of Ho Chi Minh City and in Đồng Nai and Khánh Hòa, with another location in the former Bình Dương area. This distributed footprint means that “Ho Chi Minh City Open University” should not be understood as one compact campus. For students, central-city study offers access to the services, cultural life, employers, and transport networks of Vietnam’s largest metropolitan economy. The tradeoff is that travel time and living arrangements may depend heavily on the assigned teaching location. Some required activities may also take place outside the city center. Before renting accommodation, applicants should obtain the current timetable location for their program and ask whether classes rotate between sites. The university publishes addresses, but the reviewed material does not provide a comprehensive current transport or accessibility guide for every location.

Costs & Career Outcomes

Published 2026–2027 tuition for regular undergraduate standard programs ranges from VND 26.5 million to VND 32 million per academic year, depending on the field. Advanced-program tuition is approximately VND 50 million per year. The university states that any annual tuition increase may be up to 10%, depending on operating conditions and the applicable government framework. These figures apply to the named regular undergraduate categories; they should not be generalized to distance, part-time, graduate, or international arrangements. The university projected a scholarship fund of approximately VND 53 billion for 2026. Its student-services information also identifies merit or targeted scholarships, tuition reductions, and guidance on student-credit programs. Eligibility is scheme-specific, so the projected fund is not an individual award guarantee. No current comprehensive figure for accommodation, food, transport, books, or other living costs was verified, and students should budget those separately according to their assigned study site. Career support includes a university employment portal with full-time and part-time listings. Subject-based clubs and university–employer activities can also provide applied exposure, but the reviewed sources do not support a university-wide placement rate, typical salary, or named-employer outcome. Students comparing career value should request recent outcome data for the exact program and delivery mode.