VinUniversity is approved to establish and operate as university of excellence

January 9, 2020

On December 17, 2019, the Prime Minister officially approved the establishment of VinUniversity. VinUniversity, with a total investment of up to 6,500 billion VND from Vingroup, is a private not-for-profit university in Vietnam, created in the model of a university of excellence that educates and develops talents for the future.

21 months after approving the policy that allowed  VinUniversity to be established, on December 17, 2019, the Prime Minister approved the decision to establish VinUniversity.

VinUniversity is located in the Vinhomes Ocean Park with a total area of 23 ha with the most modern equipment for advanced learning methods

VinUniversity’s goal is to educate talented students with outstanding abilities, and highly developed cognitive analytical and creative thinking skills, and a strong desire to create solutions to improve the human condition.

To realize this goal, Vingroup, the sponsor of VinUniversity, has committed to provideVinUniversity with  6,500 billion VND, including VND 3,500 billion for investment in facilities, 3,000 billion VND for merit-based scholarships and financial aid for students, and support for operating expenses for the first ten years.

In the first phase, VinUni expects to enroll about 300 students as the inaugural class of 2020 and is focused on three groups of academic programs or majors corresponding to three Colleges namely Business and Management, Health Sciences, and Engineering and Computer Science, in order to meet the current and future needs of Vietnam as well as the world trends. There are eight specific majors: Hospitality Management, Business Administration, Real Estate; Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science; Doctor of Medicine, and Bachelor of Nursing.

In April 2018, VinUniversity Project signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Cornell University and University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) which are Ivy League Universities in the United States and are consistently named in the 20 Top Universities in the world. These two universities have supported and will continue to support VinUniversity to build excellence in various aspects of running a university, from the administration system and program development to recruitment and training of faculty, student enrollment and external accreditation. 

After signing the cooperation agreements, Cornell and UPenn have supported VinUniversity in attracting nearly 3,000 candidates to apply for its open faculty and researcher positions. All of the faculty that are being hired at VinUni have studied, taught or conducted research at the top universities in the world, mostly in the US and Europe. This approach to hire faculty with international experience and reputation is part of the plan to build an academic team with great vision, enthusiasm and talent, and is consistent with the training missions of a university of excellence.

Cornell and Penn are involved in developing curricula and educational pathways, and evaluating program effectiveness in accordance with international accreditation standards. In addition, student enrollment and evaluation mechanisms of VinUniversity comply with the model of a university of excellence and strict international standards.

Professor Rohit Verma, Provost of VinUniversity shared: The decision to establish VinUniversity is the first step, we have a long way to fulfill our commitments

On the occasion of the approval of the university, ProfessorRohit Verma, former Dean of External Relations at  Cornell SC Johnson Business School, who is on leave from Cornell to work as the first Provost of VinUniversity said “Participating from the beginning, I deeply appreciate the support of the Government of Vietnam, the commitment of VinGroup as well as the support of Cornell and UPenn. The decision to establish the university is the necessary first step; we now have to do the hard work of fulfilling our commitment to develop future generations of extraordinary talents for a prosperous Vietnam”.

Professor Glen Gaulton, Vice Dean and Faculty Director, Center for Global Health at UPennalso shared: “I speak for our university… when I say how proud we are to stand with you in transforming higher education in Vietnam.  This announcement is a testament to the incredible vision and commitment of your leadership, as well as the talents and dedication of the spectacular VinUniversity staff”

VinUniversity is located in an area of 23 hectares within the campus of OceanPark Vinhomes (Gia Lam, Hanoi) with a total investment of 3,500 billion VND supported by VinGroup. The campus is being built, and some key buildings such as the main administrative and faculty building, dormitory, sport complex, library, labs and simulation building are completed. The landscape design, interior layout and equipment are aimed at optimizing experiences of students and lecturers and meeting the 5-star QS standard of Quacquarelli Symonds.

Team-Based Learning requires a large space, flexible layout and the most advanced audio-visual technology

Besides outstanding facilities, VinUniversity is offering generous financial support for students, with a funding of up to 3,000 billion VND from VinGroup. Particularly, in the first 5 years, all VinUniversity students will be supported for 35% of tuition costs, such that the average tuition per student will be about 22,750 USD/year. In addition, the university will award talent scholarships and full scholarships up to 100% of the tuition fee and living cost for talented students. The university will also provide generous and flexible financial aid to students.

VinUniversity has received over a thousand expressions of interest from highly talented students, and is preparing for the first school year, which is expected to commence in September 2020.