Procedures for approving academic collaboration at bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels in Vietnam

Procedures for approving academic collaboration at bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels in Vietnam​ (Image from the internet)

On October 31, 2024, the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam issued Decision 3278/QD-BGDDT on the announcement of amended and supplemented administrative procedures in the field of education and training with foreign countries under the management scope and function of the Ministry of Education and Training.

Procedures for approving academic collaboration at bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels in Vietnam

(1) Implementation Steps:

- Step 1: The affiliated parties submit the application to the Ministry of Education and Training concerning training cooperation at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels with foreign countries (except for cases under the authority stipulated in Clause 5, Article 45 Higher Education Law (amended and supplemented in 2018) and Point e, Clause 1, Article 13 Decree 99/2019/ND-CP.

- Step 2: Within 5 working days from the date of receiving the application, the receiving agency shall notify in writing directly or via postal service or email to the affiliated parties for amendment and supplementation of the application in case of invalid documents.

- Step 3: Within 20 working days from the date of receiving a complete and valid application, the receiving agency shall organize appraisal and issue a Decision approving the training cooperation with foreign countries.

(2) Implementation Method:

Submit directly or via postal service or online public service portal.

(3) Components of the Application:

- Application for approval of training cooperation with foreign countries signed jointly by the affiliated parties according to Form No. 06 in Appendix Decree 124/2024/ND-CP.

- Cooperation agreement (Contract) between the affiliated parties containing detailed information about the affiliated parties, responsibilities of the affiliated parties regarding specific commitments about the program, study materials and teaching, instructors, facilities, examinations, assessments, diplomas, financial information, and other content.

- Documents proving the legal status of the affiliated parties: Certified copy or copy with the original for comparison of the decision to establish or permit the establishment of the educational institution or other equivalent documents.

- Documents proving that the Vietnamese higher education institution and the foreign higher education institution are authorized to train in the intended field of cooperation (certified copy or copy with the original for comparison).

- Quality accreditation certificate of the foreign training program or documents recognizing educational quality from a competent authority (certified copy or copy with the original for comparison).

- Scheme for implementing training cooperation with foreign countries developed by the affiliated parties according to Form No. 07 in Appendix Decree 86/2018/ND-CP including main contents: Necessity, cooperation objectives; introduction of affiliated parties, cooperation content, field and training level; facilities, equipment; program and teaching content; tentative instructor list with scientific curriculum vitae; admission targets and criteria; training scale; form of assessment, evaluation; diplomas, certificates to be issued, equivalence of foreign diplomas, foreign certificates compared with diplomas of the national education system of Vietnam; measures to ensure educational quality; rights of students and employees; department in charge of cooperation, individual profiles of representatives of the Vietnamese educational institution and foreign educational institution involved in program management; tuition fees, financial support from Vietnamese and foreign individuals, and organizations (if any), budget estimates, financial management mechanisms; responsibilities and rights of the affiliated parties; responsibilities and rights of educators, students.

In cases where the Vietnamese training institution and the foreign higher education institution carry out the training cooperation program in the form of online or a combination of offline and online, the project for implementing training cooperation with foreign countries must ensure the following contents:

- The content regarding ensuring educational quality in the project for implementing training cooperation with foreign countries must clearly describe: Facilities, equipment, electronic information portals, server systems, and Internet connectivity infrastructure, learning management systems, learning content management systems, electronic learning materials for organizing and managing online training cooperation activities; compliance with regulations for instructors participating in the training cooperation program; ensuring quality so that students graduating from the training cooperation program in Vietnam can receive diplomas issued by the foreign higher education institution comparable to those awarded to graduates at the main campus of the foreign higher education institution.

- The content regarding the rights of students and employees must clearly stipulate the risk management plan when implementing the training cooperation program, especially when the program is interrupted or terminated prematurely in the project for implementing training cooperation with foreign countries and the agreement or cooperation contract between the affiliated parties.

Refer to detailed content at Decision 3278/QD-BGDDT effective from November 20, 2024.

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