FAQs - College of Business and Management

College of Business and Management offers two degree programs: Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science in Hospitality and Management.

Cornell University is one of the two strategic collaborators for VinUniversity and is the leading consultant for the College of Business and Management.

Cornell is involved with every aspect of VinUniversity’s development, spanning infrastructure, governance, faculty hiring, and curriculum development. Cornell validates and assures the quality of curriculum developed by VinUniversity faculty and guides VinUniversity and its Colleges on a path of international accreditation. For additional details please see: https://business.cornell.edu/faculty-research/vinuniversity-project/

VinUniversity provides strong English-based degree programs in business and management co-designed and validated by professors from Cornell University, an American Ivy League university (https://business.cornell.edu/faculty-research/vinuniversity-project/). The curriculum is rich in subject matter content and designed to equip students with in-depth knowledge and strong competencies in the core subject areas. Students will acquire communication skills, English proficiency, numerous soft/leadership skills, an entrepreneurship mindset, effective workplace skills, networking and negotiating skills, and project management skills.

Students will have opportunities for international studies rich in experiential learning and internships, with companies solving real-world problems.

The curriculum will be executed using active teaching and learning methodologies designed to drive the best learning outcomes. Many courses will require students to work on short and long-term projects, in preparation for working in cross-functional teams in which workplace environments are highly interactive and require high-quality deliverables.

The curriculum will utilize extensive digital technology in order for students to develop competency in business management in a digital world.

While the curriculum is designed to be global in its outlook, it is grounded in the business, social, and economic realities of modern-day and future Vietnam. In this way, graduates will not only be ready to be global leaders and change makers, but they will be equally ready to succeed in the business world in Vietnam.

Within each academic program, students are expected to specialize in one or more areas that interest them most. This is called a Major. In order to complete a major, students will have to take 6-8 or more courses that go deeper into the subject areas for that major. The Major must be selected from the options offered within the student’s academic program.

A Minor is a smaller degree of specialization, and it is completely optional. Many students who wish to learn about a subject area to broaden their knowledge, but don’t necessarily wish to pursue the area as a career choice, may find the option of a minor useful. Students will typically need to complete 4-5 courses in an area to fulfill the requirements for a minor. Students can choose minors from within their academic program or college or from another program or college at the university.

Semester abroad and internship semesters can count towards the Major or Minor if these engagements meet the subject requirements.

All students have to choose one major. For the intake in 2020, the College of Business and Management offers three majors: finance, accounting, marketing. More majors will be offered for future intakes. In addition to a major, students can choose another major OR one or more minor(S) OR choose electives as they wish. Students can also choose to pursue a minor from other colleges such as College of Engineering and Computer Science.

In both degree programs, you can learn about Finance. In the hospitality management program, however, you will learn Finance specific to the hospitality industry. If your passion is the hospitality industry, you should choose the hospitality management program (BSHM). If your interest is more general than specific, you should choose business management program (BBA). In the business management program, you can choose Finance as a major.

We know that it can be difficult to choose your specific area of interest so early in your academic journey, and we want to give you options and flexibility, so that your college education can be meaningful and rewarding to you. There will be opportunities to apply for and switch disciplines after one year. This will depend on a number of factors, such as availability of seats, your academic performance, how you have demonstrated your interest and commitment for the new major, and recommendations from your academic advisor. Rest assured, we will do everything we can so that you don’t feel trapped in studying something that is not right for you.

VinUniversity aims to achieve the highest international AACSB accreditation for all business education programs by 2026. You can learn about the standards and requirements for AACSB accreditation and the universities who have been accredited here: https://www.aacsb.edu/ 

VinUniversity also aims to be ranked in the top 100 on QS Rankings for young universities by 2035 and in the top 50 by 2050.

VinUni’s business education will equip students with 6 major attributes to be future-ready global citizens:

  • In-depth knowledge and expertise in the subject matter;
  • Ethics and leadership skills;
  • Problem solving and interdisciplinary learning and practice;
  • Global awareness, real world experience, and English language proficiency;
  • Technical competence and communication skills; and
  • Entrepreneurship mindset and skills.

College of Business and Management students at VinUniversity will receive an exceptional education, and upon graduation, students will be able to attain meaningful careers to launch their fast track to supervisory and management positions in 3 to 5 years, and senior executive leadership and business ownership positions within 7 to 10 years. While no program-academic or otherwise-can guarantee professional success, VinUni students will definitely be trained to have the skills, knowledge, work ethic, networking, and industry connections they will need to launch successful careers.

College of Business and Management prepares students for the future career through diverse industry engagement programs, such as distinguished internship programs, mentor programs, industry leader interaction programs, career fairs, etc. CBM fosters entrepreneurial mind-set and helps build international experiences. Through this well-designed career development path, students will fully develop their potential and become ready for the career that they best fit.

Hospitality management is more than hotel management or tourism. Think of all the types of companies — manufacturing, service, real estate, transportation, travel — that are involved in the hospitality business. Whether it is airline management, hotel operations, food and restaurant management, building and design, technology innovation and implementation, service and product design, leasing, property investment, real estate management, or spa and luxury establishments, the types of companies and services included within the hospitality industry are diverse and ever-expanding. Graduates with hospitality backgrounds also work in many industries that require people skills, such as advisory or consulting services, healthcare administration, and event management to name a few. .

Currently, we plan to offer three majors/concentrations:

  • Lodging Management
  • Revenue Management
  • Digital Marketing

Future majors/concentrations might include:

  • Casino and Resort Management
  • Event Planning
  • Airlines and Airport Management
  • Health and wellness management
  • Service Operations Management
  • Cruise Ship Management and Tour Operations Management

The hospitality management program requires three summer internships: two in Vietnam and one abroad (ideally) with a total of 1,000 hours. The real-world learning through internships is a hallmark of the Cornell University’s hospitality management program and has proven to be highly successful in instilling real-world skills. Hence, VinUni’s hospitality program benchmarks this framework by Cornell.

Refer to the tentative curriculum planner on the website for a bigger image.

High-quality, cutting-edge research is one of the highest priorities that the College of Business and Management pursues. Students will have diverse opportunities to work directly with faculty on research projects. The College of Business and Management will provide resources including funding, library and database access, mentorship, and training for research skills.

VinUni faculty are well-known academics with international reputations as high-quality researchers and impactful teachers at some of the world’s best universities. They are committed educators who use content-rich curriculum and their teaching is informed and enriched by their research expertise. In addition to the faculty with PhDs, VinUni will also have teaching faculty who have extensive experience in leadership positions in companies both in Vietnam and abroad. VinUni will also have a number of distinguished visiting and adjunct faculty from top universities who will teach and conduct research at VinUni and serve as mentors to students and VinUni faculty.

VinUni will have small class sizes, with an estimated faculty-student ratio of 1:12. The entire College of Business and Management will admit less than 100 students in the first year. These small class sizes and low faculty-student ratio will ensure that each student will receive individual attention from the university administration, as well as, the faculty.

VinUniversity has three colleges: the College of Health Sciences; the College of Engineering and Computer Science; and the College of Business and Management. While students will major in an area from within their college, there will be lots of opportunities for interdisciplinary work. These include classes that are listed across colleges, such as digital business transformation, data analytics, health care management, entrepreneurship, communication, project management, product and service design, sustainable manufacturing and design, service operations, quality management, etc. These courses will not only bring students from various colleges and programs together to learn, they will also provide opportunities for cross-disciplinary project work and internships. For example, students from engineering, nursing program and business could work on a project to design, build, and market a better tool for infant care in a hospital setting, or pursue a project to reduce errors in a hospital setting using better data analytics and digital tools.