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March 31, 2026

Autonomy with Accountability: Key Changes under Vietnam’s New Higher Education Law

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Against the backdrop of Vietnam’s rapid economic and technological transformation and its ambition to build a knowledge-driven economy, the National Assembly of Vietnam adopted Law on Higher Education No. 125/2025/QH15 on December 10, 2025, The new law took effect on January 1, 2026, replacing Law on Higher Education No. 08/2012/QH13 of 2012 and its subsequent amendments after more than a decade of implementation.

The new law reflects a significant policy shift toward enhancing the institutional autonomy of higher education institutions (“HEIs”)—universities and other university-level institutions. By granting broader autonomy, Vietnam aims to enable HEIs to operate more proactively, better respond to market needs, and improve the quality and efficiency of education and research activities.

Comprehensive Institutional Autonomy in HEIs

The new law marks a significant shift by granting HEIs comprehensive autonomy as a statutory right, within the bounds of the licensed scope of educational operation and the legal framework, rather than a conditional right as provided under the former law. Under the new law, HEIs are empowered to exercise autonomy over their academic expertise, training, scientific research, international cooperation, organizational structure, personnel, finance, and other higher education activities. The expansion of institutional autonomy is also accompanied by a correspondingly strengthened framework of institutional accountability.

However, Vietnam maintains a certain degree of control and imposes restrictions on institutional autonomy in sensitive and strategically important areas. These controls and restrictions include limitations on training autonomy in the majors of teacher training, national defense, and security; and restrictions on financial and personnel management autonomy for HEIs under the administration of the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security.

New Model for Curriculum Development

The new law removes the concept of “opening a training major” and focuses regulation on how training programs are developed and delivered. Under the previous regime, an HEI wishing to offer a new program would need to go through a procedure to open that major itself or apply for approval to open that major if the HEI did not have full institution autonomy—a process that was often administratively burdensome.

Under the new law, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) will issue a comprehensive list of training majors, from which HEIs must identify and register the majors they intend to offer as part of the licensing process for their educational operation permit.

At the same time, HEIs are granted autonomy to develop their programs within the registered training majors in compliance with the training program standards to be issued by MOET. In general, the principal/rector is authorized to approve the training programs of the HEI. However, certain specialized programs remain subject to approval by the competent state authority, including teacher education and health-related fields, and law-related fields.

To ensure continuity and stability during the transition, the new law establishes transitional arrangements for HEIs that either submitted applications for, or were approved to, open training majors before January 1, 2026. Specifically:

  • Valid applications submitted before January 1, 2026, will continue to be processed under the regulations that were effective at the time of submission.
  • HEIs may implement, within three years, approvals for opening of training majors issued before January 1, 2026, in compliance with the corresponding standards issued before that date.

Stakeholders should monitor forthcoming guidance from MOET regarding the consequences of failing to meet the three-year transitional deadline.

Abolition of University Councils in Public HEIs

The new law fundamentally alters institutional governance, by abolishing university councils in the governance structure of public HEIs, pursuant to the orientation of Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW dated August 22, 2025, of the Central Committee.

However, two categories of HEIs are exempt from this change. First, an HEI established pursuant to an international treaty between the Vietnamese government and a foreign government may continue to maintain the university council within its governance structure as provided under such international treaty. Second, university councils remain in place in private HEIs, where they continue to function as the governing body representing stakeholders, making decisions on development orientation, organizational structure, resource utilization, and accountability.

Foreign Branch Campuses Under Tighter Regulatory Alignment

The new law also reshapes the legal landscape for foreign branch campuses (“FBCs”) of foreign HEIs in Vietnam, moving toward governing FBCs under a legal framework that closely aligns with the regime applicable to a foreign‑invested private HEI. In particular, FBCs must now comply with the regulations applicable to foreign-invested private HEIs not only with respect to establishment and operation, as inherited from previous regulations, but also with respect to the organizational structure, as newly required under the new law.

Such changes establish a comprehensive legal framework governing FBCs in Vietnam, but also raise practical challenges in reconciling the structural and in-nature differences between FBCs and foreign-invested private HEIs, as well as navigating conflicts between Vietnamese law and the regulations of the parent university’s home jurisdiction. These challenges may persist unless the forthcoming detailed guidelines of the government provide special regulatory regimes to facilitate the adaptation of FBCs.

Classification of Training Locations

The new law introduces a formal legal definition of “training locations” for HEIs for the first time. Similar to the approach in the Law on Vocational Education passed on the same day, these include (i) headquarters, (ii) branch campuses, and (iii) the newly recognized “other training locations,” defined as places where all or part of a training program is delivered, under the management of HEIs, and in compliance with prescribed quality‑assurance conditions. “Other training locations” do not perform governance and management functions, and include premises owned by or lawfully used by the HEI, venues for joint training programs, and sites for practical training.

This change allows institutions to share facilities, such as sports fields, laboratories, and clinical training sites, and deliver training programs in a more flexible and effective manner, while maintaining compliance with prescribed quality‑assurance conditions.

Outlook

The new Law on Higher Education marks a significant shift in regulations toward modernizing Vietnam’s higher education system, bringing it closer to international standards, encouraging innovation, and promoting the sector’s sustainable development. The new framework also opens clearer and more transparent avenues for investment by introducing greater institutional autonomy and streamlining administrative procedures, reducing long‑standing regulatory bottlenecks, among other changes. At the same time, it imposes stricter quality assurance and compliance requirements. These heightened standards increase competitive pressure across the sector. Therefore, long‑term strategic planning as well as monitoring the upcoming detailed implementation guidelines from the government is essential for both existing and prospective investors.

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