University exceeds admission quota over 700%, violates myriad regulations

In late January, inspectors from the Ministry of Education and Training announced the conclusion of an investigation that had uncovered a series of violations at the private Trung Vuong University in Vinh Phuc Province during the 2020-2022 period.

For one, university admissions staff recruited many times over its quota in several departments.

In 2020, for example, in the Department of Business and Management, and the Department of Law, the university recruited nearly 750 students, an excess of 647% when only 100 were needed for a full student cohort.

In 2022, the Nursing Department enrolled more than 500 students, exceeding its quota by 737%.

According to regulations, universities are autonomous and responsible for determining their admission quotas and making them public. However, this should not exceed the institution’s capacity and must meet all training conditions dictated by education ministry regulations.

Universities will be penalized if they recruit over 3% of their quota. The maximum fine is VND70 million (US$2,860) if exceeding by more than 20%. No university has ever been found exceeding its quotas at such a high rate as Trung Vuong University.

When inspecting student records for the Nursing Department at the university, the ministry found a regular student without a high school diploma while three other students did not meet the minimum level of high school education.

At the master's level, there were students that could not show proof of university graduation.

At the time of inspection, the university had also not compiled, selected, or assessed teaching materials for its majors at the regular undergraduate level. Attendance books lacked lecturer signatures, and the ratio of permanent faculty to visiting lecturers was incorrect.

Additionally, the university illegally opened a practical training facility in Hanoi.

Regarding faculty quality, the E-commerce major had 4 out of 5 instructors beyond the working age limit, and without Ph.Ds. in their relevant fields of study.

According to the ministry inspection, the responsibility for these problems lies with the admissions unit, faculty leadership, and the Trung Vuong University administration as a whole. The agency recommended Trung Vuong University rectify its management practices, review internal regulations and student records, rebuild its admissions scheme, and carry out the compilation and assessment of teaching materials before reporting back to the ministry.

The People's Committee of Vinh Phuc has been advised to assist the university in the management of its activities, and help the institution in its review of its admissions process and training procedures.

Trung Vuong University was established in 2010.

The Ministry of Education and Training authorizes the university to offer eight undergraduate majors - Economic Law, Business Administration, E-commerce, Finance - Banking, Accounting, Nursing, English Language, and Chinese Language.

The university offers two master's programs in Economic Management and Economic Law.