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in Vietnam, 494,488 of them con-
tinued their studies in Vietnam
and about 40,000 of them studied
abroad, according to the Ministry
of Education and Training (MOE)
of Vietnam.

The number of Vietnamese stu-
dents studying in the U.S. jumped
from 18,722 in academic year
2014/2015, to 24,392 students in
2018/2019, figures from the In-
stitute of International Education
(IIE) show.

Hồ Trung Thành, a student at
the University of Wollongong in
Australia, also resorted to an agen-
cy’s service when applying to three
universities in the country.
ounted f
or o
y
ollege, where Vietnamese students acc
sburg C
Gett
Gettysburg College, where Vietnamese students accounted for over a quarter of internation- -
f internation
ver a quar
ter o
al undergraduates in Fall 2023, according to the university.
al undergr aduates in F all 2023, acc or ding to the univer sit y . “I spent 25 million Vietnamese
(Photo courtesy of Nguyễn Hương Trà )
(Photo c our tes y o f Nguy n H ng Tr à )
dong (US $1,007) on the agency’s
service. I wrote an application,
agency worked with her for one the U.S. because tuition fees for they reviewed it and filed it to uni-
and a half year, starting when she international students and liv- versities on my behalf,” he says.
was in grade 10 until she received ing expenses are very expensive.
admission and scholarship results It costs about HK $625,500 (US “My family is willing to spend
in December 2022. $80,000) a year at Gettysburg,”the that amount for me to study be-
18-year-old student says. cause they want me to work in
Consultants from the agency Australia after graduation and
looked through her profile and She adds that her family’s earn permanent residency (P.R.),”
advised her on how to polish her monthly household income is 40 Hồ says.
profile such as taking Scholastic million Vietnamese dong (US
Assessment Test (SAT) and Inter- $1,611). “Having P.R. helps me find jobs
national English Language Testing easier because the company does
System (IELTS) test, joining extra- Nguyễn admits she was clueless not need to sponsor my work visa
curricular activities focusing on about what to do to secure a schol- which costs a lot of money and re-
leadership, and joining competi- arship and could not handle all quires paperwork,”he adds.
tions about solving business prob- the complicated application docu-
lems. ments without outside help. Hồ wants to work in Australia
because he dislikes the working
“They guaranteed that I can “The agency’s service fee is high environment in Vietnam.
get into the top 50 U.S. liberal but it is worth it when comparing
arts colleges by following their with the amount of scholarship I “Most companies there have a
plan,”Nguyễn says. got”, she says. culture of working overtime and
on weekends. Salary is much low-
“Without the scholarship, my In 2023, there were more than er compared to Australia, where
family cannot afford my study in one million high school graduates