Circular 83/2026/TT-BGDDT promulgating the Standards for higher education institutions

CIRCULAR

On promulgation of the Standards for higher education institutions

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Pursuant to the Law on Education No. 43/2019/QH14 dated June 14, 2019, as amended and supplemented by Law No. 123/2025/QH15 dated December 10, 2025;

Pursuant to the Law on Higher Education No. 125/2025/QH15 dated December 10, 2025;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 279/2026/ND-CP dated July 12, 2026, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Education and Training;

At the proposal of the Director General of the Higher Education Department;

The Minister of Education and Training hereby promulgates the Circular prescribing the Standards for higher education institutions.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation and subjects of application

1. This Circular prescribes the Standards for higher education institutions and guides the application thereof and the assessment of the level of compliance with the standards, criteria and performance indicators of the Standards for higher education institutions.

2. This Circular applies to higher education institutions and other education institutions conducting higher education activities (hereinafter collectively referred to as training institutions); and relevant agencies, organizations and individuals.

Article 2. Interpretation of terms

In this Circular, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Learners means persons who are studying and conducting scientific research at training institutions, including undergraduate students of undergraduate training programs (including specialized training programs in certain specific disciplines and fields awarding diplomas as prescribed by the Minister of Education and Training); master's students of master's training programs, including training programs awarding diplomas of a level equivalent to the master's level (hereinafter collectively referred to as postgraduate students); and doctoral candidates of doctoral training programs (hereinafter collectively referred to as doctoral candidates). Full-time learners means those studying in the form of full-time training at training institutions.

2. Converted number of learners means the number of learners converted by multiplying by a coefficient prescribed by level, field, method and form of training, which is determined according to the conversion coefficients specified in Appendix I attached to this Circular.

3. Graduates means persons who have completed training programs and are eligible to be awarded, or have been awarded, higher education diplomas in accordance with law, including undergraduate, master's and doctoral diplomas and diplomas of specialized training programs as prescribed by law.

4. Lecturers means educators who perform the tasks of teaching, educating and guiding learners according to training programs and meet the standards and conditions for lecturers as prescribed by law.

5. Converted number of lecturers means the number of lecturers converted according to the coefficients prescribed for each training level and academic title and the rate of actual participation in teaching in Appendix I attached to this Circular.

6. Permanent lecturers of working age means permanent lecturers who have not passed the retirement age, inclusive of the extended working period applicable to lecturers holding doctoral degrees, associate professors and professors as prescribed by law. The working age of permanent lecturers in private training institutions shall be calculated in the same way as prescribed for permanent lecturers in public training institutions.

7. Land area of a training institution means the total area of land under stable and long-term use that the State has allocated or leased, or for which the State has recognized land use rights, in accordance with law, or land with a use term of more than 20 years under the lawful use rights of the training institution, or land under the stable and long-term use rights of the managing agency which the managing agency has decided to assign to the training institution for lawful use, to serve higher education activities in the locality where the training institution has its main campus, a branch campus or another training location.

8. Construction floor area directly serving training means the total construction floor area owned by the training institution, or owned by the managing agency and assigned to the training institution for lawful use under the managing agency's decision, to directly serve training activities. The construction floor area directly serving training includes the usable area of:

a) Assembly halls, lecture halls, classrooms of all types, multi-purpose rooms; technical rooms, recording studios; laboratories, workshops for internship, experimentation, practice and training; libraries, learning resource centers; sports training and teaching facilities meeting national technical regulations (QCVN) and national standards (TCVN) on the design of sports facilities;

b) Offices of managers, lecturers, support staff, postgraduate students and doctoral candidates, and other areas with functions serving teaching, learning, training and research (excluding the area of structures used for living services, commercial services or lease).

9. Schools providing training in specific disciplines means universities and academies providing training in disciplines in the field of Arts, the discipline group of Physical education and sports, or the discipline group of Foreign languages, literature and culture, with the training scale of these disciplines accounting for at least 70% of the total training scale of the entire school.

10. HEMIS (Higher Education Management Information System) means the specialized database system on higher education developed and uniformly managed by the Ministry of Education and Training.

Article 3. Purposes of use of the Standards for higher education institutions

1. Results of the assessment of the level of compliance with the Standards for higher education institutions shall be used as a source of information and a basis for state management in accordance with relevant laws.

2. Raising the quality standards for training institutions by enhancing transparency and public disclosure of quality assurance conditions of training institutions.

3.  Serving as a basis for training institutions to conduct self-assessment and self-monitoring, to discharge their accountability for quality assurance conditions, and to account for their performance results to state management agencies and society.

Article 4. Principles of application of, and assessment of the level of compliance with, the Standards

1. The Standards for higher education institutions are a set of minimum requirements regarding quality assurance conditions and performance indicators; and shall be periodically reviewed and updated and gradually integrated into regional and international standards.

2. The Standards for higher education institutions shall be uniformly applied throughout the higher education system, except the cases of partial application or non-application specified in Article 9 of this Circular.

3. The assessment of the level of compliance with the Standards for higher education institutions shall be carried out on the basis of data, evidence and commitments of training institutions.

4. Data serving the assessment must be systematic, complete, accurate and objective, and be connected and shared through HEMIS.

5. Indicators used to assess the level of compliance with the Standards for higher education institutions must have clearly identified measurement objects, determination methods, time of determination and data sources; data shall be independently verified, traced and reconciled, ensuring no double counting among units, training programs or training locations in the same assessment period.

6. For higher education institutions established under a treaty to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party, the Standards shall be applied in accordance with such treaty; for matters not provided for in the treaty, this Circular and relevant Vietnamese laws shall apply.

Article 5. Updating and exploitation of data

1. Data serving the determination of the level of compliance with the Standards for higher education institutions shall be updated on HEMIS.

2. The access to, and connection, sharing, exploitation and use of, data serving the assessment of the level of compliance with the Standards shall be carried out within the scope of access rights granted in the system and in accordance with the law on data, personal data protection, protection of state secrets and information security, and relevant laws.

3. In case HEMIS has not yet met updating requirements or a system incident occurs, higher education institutions shall collect, compile, store and provide data by electronic means at the request of competent state management agencies. A request for data provision must clearly identify the contents, scope, receiving agency and time limit for implementation;  and must not require the re-reporting of data that have been fully and validly updated on HEMIS.

Chapter II

STANDARDS, CRITERIA AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR ASSESSMENT UNDER  THE STANDARDS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Article 6. Standards and criteria

The standards and criteria of the Standards for higher education institutions include:

1. Standard 1: Organization and governance

The training institution has a stable organizational structure and an effective and transparent governance system.

a) Criterion 1.1. The system of internal rules and regulations has been fully promulgated by the competent authorities within the scope of their powers and remains in effect in accordance with the Law on Education and the Law on Higher Education.

b) Criterion 1.2. The mission and development strategy of the training institution are promulgated, translated into key performance indicators in annual plans, and implemented, monitored and assessed, ensuring that at least 50% of the key performance indicators meet or exceed the approved targets.

c) Criterion 1.3. Management data on learners, the lecturing staff, training programs, facilities, practical training establishments, locations where training is organized, quality assurance conditions and performance results of the training institution are interconnected and updated on HEMIS in a complete, accurate, timely and consistent manner and in the prescribed format.

2. Standard 2: Lecturers

The training institution has a lecturing staff meeting the requirements on quantity, qualifications and available time to ensure the quality of teaching and research.

a) Criterion 2.1. The ratio of the converted number of learners by level, field and form of training to the converted number of lecturers must always be maintained at no more than 40.

b) Criterion 2.2. The percentage of permanent lecturers of working age in the total number of lecturers must not be lower than 70%.

c) Criterion 2.3. The percentage of lecturers holding doctoral degrees in the total number of lecturers:

- Not lower than 20% and from 2030 not lower than 30%, for training institutions not providing doctoral training; not lower than 5% and from 2030 not lower than 10%, for schools providing training in specific disciplines that do not provide doctoral training;

- Not lower than 40% and from 2030 not lower than 50%, for training institutions providing doctoral training; not lower than 10% and from 2030 not lower than 15%, for schools providing training in specific disciplines that provide doctoral training.

3. Standard 3: Facilities, learning resources and digital infrastructure

The training institution has a campus, facilities, a library system and learning resources meeting the requirements for ensuring the quality of teaching, learning and research.

a) Criterion 3.1. From 2030, the land area (with coefficients based on campus location), averaged per converted full-time learner by level and field of training, must not be less than 25 m².

b) Criterion 3.2. The construction floor area serving training per converted full-time learner by level and field of training must not be less than 2.8 m²; at least 70% of permanent lecturers are provided with separate workplaces.

c) Criterion 3.3. Libraries and learning resource centers have sufficient textbooks, monographs and other learning resources as required by training programs, ensuring that the average number of valid uses of learning resources per lecturer and learner in an academic year is at least 10.

d) Criterion 3.4. The online learning management system must satisfy 100% of the minimum functions and requirements under the Ministry of Education and Training's regulations on technology application in higher education.

4. Standard 4: Finance

The training institution maintains financial balance, operational efficiency and capacity for sustainable development.

a) Criterion 4.1. The operating margin, which is determined by the difference between revenues and expenditures over total revenue and averaged over the last 3 years, must not be negative.

b) Criterion 4.2. The sustainable growth index, which is determined by the arithmetic mean of the growth rate of total revenue and the growth rate of revenues other than tuition fees and state budget/investor support for recurrent expenditures in the last 3 years, must not be negative.

5. Standard 5: Enrollment and training

The training institution maintains quality and efficiency in enrollment, training and learner support.

a) Criterion 5.1. The ratio of matriculated learners to the enrollment quota announced in the annual enrollment plan, averaged over the last 3 years, must not be lower than 50%; the training scale must not decline by more than 30% compared with that of 3 years earlier, unless the reduction in scale falls within the training institution's development orientation which has been approved by a competent agency or was publicly announced at least 2 years in advance.

b) Criterion 5.2. The annual dropout rate, which is determined by the ratio of learners who have not graduated and do not continue their studies in the subsequent year (excluding learners permitted to take a temporary leave of absence, change training programs or transfer to another education institution) to the total number of learners on the rolls at the end of the preceding academic year, must not be higher than 10%; particularly for first-year learners, the rate, which is calculated on the number of learners matriculating for the first time in the enrollment cohort after subtracting the excluded cases, must not be higher than 15%.

c) Criterion 5.3. The graduation rate, which is determined by the ratio of learners completing the training program within a period not exceeding 1.5 times the standard training duration to the number of learners actually enrolled in the enrollment cohort of that year, as of December 31 of the assessment year, must not be lower than 60%; and concurrently, the on-time graduation rate, which is determined by the ratio of learners completing the training program within the standard training duration, must not be lower than 40%.

d) Criterion 5.4. The percentage of learners satisfied with lecturers in terms of teaching quality and effectiveness and learning support must not be lower than 70% of the total number of valid responses, provided that the number of learners giving at least one valid response accounts for at least 60% of the learners within the survey scope; and concurrently, the percentage of graduates who are overall satisfied with the training program, learning process and experience must not be lower than 70% of the total number of valid responses, provided that the number of graduates giving valid responses accounts for at least 70% of the surveyed graduates.

dd) Criterion 5.5. The percentage of graduates of undergraduate programs who have jobs relevant to the professional qualifications in which they were trained, are self-employed, are continuing their studies at a higher level, or are undertaking compulsory practical training to satisfy the conditions for professional practice as prescribed by law, within 12 months after graduation, must not be lower than 70%.

6. Standard 6: Science, technology and innovation

The training institution has research and innovation capacity, which is demonstrated through revenues from these activities and scientific publication results.

a) Criterion 6.1. The proportion of revenues from science, technology and innovation activities in the total revenue of a training institution providing doctoral training (weighted by field), averaged over the last 3 years, must not be lower than 5%.

b) Criterion 6.2. The science, technology and innovation results averaged per converted lecturer must not be lower than 0.3 converted product/year; for training institutions providing doctoral training other than schools providing training in specific disciplines, not lower than 0.6 converted product/year, of which the number of articles on the Web of Science or Scopus list (weighted by field) must not be lower than 0.3 converted product/year.

Particularly for training institutions under the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Public Security, the Web of Science or Scopus list shall be replaced by the list of the most prestigious journals in Vietnam (grade-1 scientific journals) as prescribed by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Article 7. Performance indicators

1. Indicators used to determine the level of compliance with the standards and criteria specified in Article 6 of this Circular are provided in Appendix II attached to this Circular.

2. Appendix II specifies the content, determination method, scope of application, data sources and required level of each indicator.

3. For an indicator whose scope of application is defined by field, level, form or method of training, or location where training is organized, results shall be determined strictly within the scope of application, without double counting of data in the same assessment period.

Chapter III

ASSESSMENT OF THE LEVEL OF COMPLIANCE WITH THE STANDARDS

Article 8. Data sources used for determination of assessment indicators

Data used to determine and assess the indicators of the Standards for higher education institutions, which are updated by training institutions and synchronized from their internal governance systems to HEMIS, must be accurate, objective and verifiable and be collected from the following official system sources:

1. The centralized digital governance system of the training institution (including human resource management, financial management and training management systems);

2. The learning management system (LMS) and online training support system of the training institution;

3. The library management software system and the system for management of users accessing and exploiting library resources of the training institution;

4. Survey results, audit reports and annual public disclosure reports approved or authenticated by competent authorities;

5. Management systems, records and data certified by practical training establishments, training-coordinating units or locations where training activities are organized under lawful agreements with the training institution.

Article 9. Application of the Standards for higher education institutions

1. The standards and criteria shall be fully applied to training institutions, except the following cases of partial application:

a) For newly established training institutions that have not yet enrolled learners: only standards 1, 2 and 3 shall be applied, except criterion 3.3, with data on enrollment and training scale being projected figures.

b) For training institutions that have newly commenced operation and have not yet had a cohort of graduates: standards 1, 2 and 3; criteria 5.1 and 5.2 and the indicator on the percentage of learners satisfied with lecturers under criterion 5.4 shall be applied. Standard 4 and the indicators using 3-year data shall be applied when the training institution has sufficient data as required. Criterion 5.3, criterion 5.5 and the indicator on the percentage of graduates who are overall satisfied under criterion 5.4 shall not yet be applied.

c) For training institutions under the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Public Security: standard 4, criteria 1.1 and 6.1 shall not be applied.

d) For training institutions in the field of Arts and the discipline group of Physical education and sports: the application of criterion 6.2 is not compulsory.

2. No separate assessment of, or conclusion on, the level of compliance with the Standards shall be made for branch campuses and subordinate schools. Data of branch campuses and subordinate schools shall be aggregated into the overall assessment results of the training institution. For indicators that need to be determined by location where training is organized or by performance results at a branch campus, results shall be determined separately for each branch campus and concurrently aggregated to determine the overall results of the training institution. The indicators that must be determined separately for each branch campus are specified in Appendix II attached to this Circular.

3. For universities having member universities: the standards and criteria shall be applied both at the university level and to each member university, according to the assessment scope. Data on shared resources, including the lecturing staff, facilities, finance and other training resources, shall be allocated according to the actual level of use, ensuring no double counting in the same assessment period. The consolidation of system-wide data does not change the responsibility of each member university to comply with the Standards for higher education institutions. The determination of data for branch campuses must comply with Clause 2 of this Article.

4. For training institutions having training activities organized at practical training establishments, data serving the determination of relevant indicators may, when necessary, be collected and aggregated by training program, practical training establishment, branch campus or location where training is organized. Results shall be aggregated to determine the training institution's level of compliance with the Standards and shall not be used to draw separate conclusions on the level of compliance with the Standards for a training program, branch campus or training unit.

Data of attached member universities and branch campuses shall be aggregated to determine the overall results of the entire national university, regional university or general university.

Article 10. Determination of assessment results under the Standards for higher education institutions

1. Assessment results for each indicator shall be determined according to one of the following statuses:

a) Achieved, when the actual result meets or exceeds the required level based on complete, valid and verifiable data;

b) Not achieved, when the actual result is lower than the required level based on complete, valid and verifiable data;

c) Insufficient data for assessment, when data are missing or invalid or contain discrepancies not yet reconciled and clarified, or the result cannot be determined due to technical errors or system incidents.

2. In case the result is insufficient data for assessment, the training institution may provide explanations and supplement valid data within the requested time limit, which must not exceed 30 days; when the requested time limit has expired, if the training institution fails to provide explanations and supplement data, such indicator shall be determined as “not achieved”, except in force majeure cases certified by a competent agency.

3. A training institution shall be assessed as complying with the Standards for higher education institutions when all standards, criteria and indicators within the scope of application are achieved. Criteria and indicators for which an application roadmap is prescribed but the time of application has not yet arrived do not fall within the scope of compulsory assessment and shall not be determined as not yet achieved (or not achieved) when considering the conditions for compliance with the Standards for higher education institutions. A training institution that makes untruthful declarations or falsifies data shall be assessed as not complying with the Standards for higher education institutions and shall be handled in accordance with law.

4. Results of the assessment of the level of compliance with the Standards are a source of information serving state management. The application of management measures to a higher education institution must be based on the contents and indicators not yet achieved which have been reconciled and verified; and on the causes, nature, extent and scope of non-compliance; and must concurrently comply with the competence, conditions, order and procedures prescribed by relevant laws. No management measure shall be applied solely on the basis of the overall conclusion on the level of compliance with the Standards.

5. In case data discrepancies, synchronization errors or system errors are detected, the higher education institution and the system-managing agency shall coordinate in conducting reconciliation and clarifying the causes and responsibilities. No conclusion shall be made on the results of indicators which are under reconciliation. Adjusted data or formulas must serve as a basis for recalculation, updating and public disclosure as prescribed; the adjustment process must be logged and verifiable.

Article 11. Self-assessment of the level of compliance with the Standards for higher education institutions

1. Training institutions shall annually conduct self-assessment of the level of compliance with the Standards for higher education institutions on the basis of data updated under Article 5 of this Circular.

2. Non-financial data shall be determined as of December 31 of the reporting year. Financial data of the reporting year shall be finalized and updated no later than March 31 of the subsequent year. Self-assessment result reports shall be completed no later than April 30 of the year following the reporting year.

3. Training institutions shall, before May 31 of the year following the reporting year, announce their self-assessment results and take responsibility for the announced results; the Ministry of Education and Training shall notify the results of assessment under the Standards for higher education institutions before June 30 every year.

4. Training institutions shall be accountable to competent state management agencies and relevant parties; and concurrently conduct review and improvement in order to maintain and raise the level of compliance with the Standards for higher education institutions.

5. The Ministry of Education and Training shall conduct post-inspection, benchmarking and random checks of, or request the provision of evidence for, self-assessment data of training institutions.

6. In case an untruthful declaration is detected, the training institution shall make adjustments and bear responsibility in accordance with law.

Article 12. Review and updating of the Standards for higher education institutions

1. The Standards for higher education institutions shall be reviewed and updated once every 5 years to ensure alignment with, and gradual integration into, regional and international standards.

2. In case new guidelines and policies on higher education activities are promulgated, the Minister of Education and Training shall consider and decide on the review, adjustment and updating ahead of schedule.

Chapter IV

ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

Article 13. Implementation responsibilities

1. The Ministry of Education and Training shall:

a) Guide training institutions in providing and updating, on HEMIS, data serving the determination of indicators and the assessment of the level of compliance with the standards and criteria of the Standards for higher education institutions;

b) Announce the results of implementation of the Standards for higher education institutions by training institutions, after conducting review and benchmarking on HEMIS, before June 30 every year.

2. Training institutions shall:

a) Provide and update, on HEMIS, in a complete, accurate and consistent manner, data serving the determination of indicators and the assessment of the level of compliance with the criteria of the Standards for higher education institutions, and take responsibility for such data. The time of data determination is December 31 every year; for financial data, the time of data determination is March 31 of the following year.

b) Take necessary measures to regularly monitor and improve the quality and efficiency of higher education activities, and proactively make plans and prioritize resources to ensure the achievement of all standards and criteria of the Standards for higher education institutions within the scope of application to the training institution in accordance with the roadmap and this Circular.

c) Discharge accountability and make public disclosure to learners, competent state management agencies and relevant parties regarding the quality and efficiency of higher education activities through the results of implementation of the Standards for higher education institutions.

Article 14. Transitional provisions

1. Results of the assessment of the level of compliance with the Standards for higher education institutions which have been announced under Circular No. 01/2024/TT-BGDDT shall remain valid for use until the assessment results under this Circular are announced.

2. For training institutions falling into the case specified in Clause 8, Article 46 of the Law on Higher Education No. 125/2025/QH15, from the effective date of this Circular, the determination of the level of compliance with the Standards for higher education institutions must comply with this Circular; the application of transitional provisions does not change or extend the 48-month time limit prescribed by the Law on Higher Education.

3. The first assessment period under this Circular shall be conducted for the 2026 data year.

4. For published scientific works which are on the list of scientific journals or conference papers issued by the State Council for Professorship but not on the list of journals meeting Vietnamese scientific standards issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology, converted scientific products determined for the assessment of the level of compliance with the Standards for higher education institutions shall continue to be recognized according to the list of scientific journals or conference papers issued by the State Council for Professorship at the time of publication of such scientific works, until the date this Circular is signed for promulgation.

For training institutions under the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Public Security: the Web of Science or Scopus list shall be replaced by the list of scientific journals assigned 1.0 point, issued by the State Council for Professorship in 2025, until regulations on the list of grade-1 scientific journals of the Ministry of Science and Technology are available.

Article 15. Implementation provisions

1. This Circular takes effect on November 15, 2026, and replaces the Minister of Education and Training's Circular No. 01/2024/TT-BGDDT dated February 5, 2024, on promulgation of the Standards for higher education institutions.

2. The Chief of the Ministry Office, the Director General of the Higher Education Department, heads of relevant units under the Ministry of Education and Training; rectors and directors of training institutions, and heads of other relevant organizations and other relevant individuals shall be responsible for implementing this Circular./.

* All Appendices are not translated herein.