- Ho Chi Minh City University of Science and Technology (HCMUT) becomes the first institution outside Australia to offer a full undergraduate engineering program from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).
- The transnational program allows Vietnamese students to earn a globally recognized Australian degree locally at roughly one-third the cost of studying in Australia.
- The first cohort of 200 students will study artificial intelligence and information technology, with a curriculum identical to UTS Sydney and support from both HCMUT and UTS lecturers.
The Ho Chi Minh City University of Science and Technology (HCMUT) has now become the first institution outside of Australia to deliver an undergraduate engineering program from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). This is a major milestone in international education cooperation that provides Vietnamese students with the opportunity to receive a globally accepted Australian degree without having to leave the country. The program's tuition fee is approximately one-third the cost that students would incur in Australia, making it comparatively more affordable for local students.
The two institutions inked the deal on Wednesday, launching a transnational education model for the engineering bachelor's degree. Students will study the entire three-year program in Ho Chi Minh City, with some modules taught by lecturers dispatched by UTS. The Australian university will award the degree and one that is acceptable globally, while the admission process and academic standards will be fully controlled by the Australian university.
Assoc. Prof. Pham Tran Vu, vice rector of HCMUT, stressed that this program enables Vietnamese students to access a world-class education in their home country. The first cohort will admit 200 students majoring in artificial intelligence and information technology, two fields that closely match Vietnam's digital economic needs and international technological trends. Each semester, tuition is around VND128 million (about US $4,945).
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Leo Mian, UTS's vice rector, emphasized that the students in Ho Chi Minh City will pursue the exact same curriculum as students on the Sydney campus and gain access to UTS's library, online materials, and student services. Domestic academic support will also be offered by HCMUT's lecturers to ensure the students gain guidance from both sides.
UTS Prof. Nguyen Ngoc Diep explained that although numerous Southeast Asian universities have shown interest in similar partnerships, HCMUT was selected because of the quality of training and research developed over 18 years of cooperation between the two institutions.
Established in 1957, HCMUT is southern Vietnam's biggest hub for education, research, and technology transfer with over 32,000 students on its two campuses in District 10 and Thu Duc City. Vietnam has an estimated 300 international partnership programs, but more than 62% of those include foreign schools that are unranked or fall outside the world's top 1,000 universities, as indicated by the Ministry of Education and Training. This collaboration with UTS serves as a standard for excellence in international education within the nation.
