Miss Universe Vietnam forced to drop out of university

On Saturday morning, a representative for the beauty queen said that she had stopped her studies at Ton Duc Thang University in Ho Chi Minh City.

"This is per the rules of both the university and the Ministry of Education & Training, so we had to respect them," the representative said.

"I was calm when facing the news. Although a bit sad, I nonetheless accepted the reality of the situation. There will be other opportunities to pursue because ‘life never stops teaching,’" she said.

Miss Universe Vietnam Nguyen Thi Ngoc Chau attends the opening ceremony of the Da Nang Asian Film Festival on May 9, 2023. Photo courtesy of Ngoc Chau

In "Dream of Vietnam," which aired on May 12 and is produced by Chau, the model spoke with her mother – Dang Thi Gai, about her inability to continue her studies as promised.

"Back then, I told you that I’m almost finished with my degree, I just need to do some graduation theses. There were a couple more to go when the school said I had unfinished credentials, so now I can’t get the degree anymore."

Chau's mother said she was sad her daughter couldn’t get a degree. Nonetheless, she still supports her to keep trying. "I only want you to have a stable job, so keep on trying and developing your current work in art, because anything can happen," said Dang Thi Gai.

Chau was studying biotechnology at Ton Duc Thang University, she also was busy participating in Miss Universe Vietnam 2022 and later preparing for the the 71st Miss Universe at the beginning of this year.

After returning to Vietnam after the competition, Chau was informed she could no longer graduate. She pleaded with the school to reconsider and give her a chance to finish her graduation thesis, but was rejected.

In February, rumors of the model dropping out of university caused a stir, and beauty queen denied that she used a fake degree when participating in Miss Universe Vietnam.

She said she had never told anybody that she had graduated from the university. The organizer of Miss Universe Vietnam has confirmed that she was fully eligible to participate, and there was no foul play.

Chau was born in in Tay Ninh. In 2018, she was crowned the winner of Miss Supranational Vietnam and the next year she won Miss Supranational Asia.

In May 2022, she was the winner of Miss Universe Vietnam, giving her the right to participate in the 71st Miss Universe in the United States, but did not make the top 16.