Vietnam’s Top Students Choose South Korea over West for Higher Education

Elite students from Vietnam are increasingly choosing South Korean universities for their higher education, often prioritizing them over institutions in the United States and Europe. This shift reflects growing interest in advanced technology fields and strong industry connections available in South Korea.

South Korea has become the leading destination for Vietnamese international students, with 75,198 enrolled last year. This figure surpassed China’s 74,820 students for the first time, according to the Korean Educational Development Institute. The trend is moving beyond language training, with degree programs now accounting for 51 percent of student visas issued to Vietnamese nationals, exceeding language-training visas.

Rising Interest in Korean Technology

The appeal of South Korea’s higher education system is particularly strong among science and engineering students. Hoang Huong Giang, who scored first nationwide in Vietnam’s university entrance exam and a perfect 1,600 on the SAT, has chosen to study computer science at KAIST. She cited South Korea’s advanced science and technology and its close ties with industry as key attractions.

Similarly, Pham Hai Long, a graduate of Hanoi’s National Economics University, received a Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) to attend KAIST’s Graduate School of Global Digital Innovation. He prioritized South Korea due to its significant investments in cutting-edge technologies and the presence of global companies like Samsung and LG. Students are also beginning their preparation earlier, with many now studying for the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) during their first or second year of high school.

Universities and Government Attract Talent

South Korean universities are actively recruiting gifted students from Vietnam to address domestic talent shortages, particularly in science and engineering. Professors from Seoul National University’s College of Engineering visited Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) to host admissions information sessions. Major Korean universities, including Konkuk, Sungkyunkwan, Chung-Ang, and Hanyang, are also partnering with study-abroad agencies to offer scholarships to outstanding Vietnamese students.

The Korean government supports these efforts through its Education Center in Hanoi, which provides Korean-language courses at prominent Vietnamese science and engineering universities. This initiative aims to strengthen educational cooperation and foster closer ties between the two nations.

Retaining Talent Remains a Challenge

Despite the success in attracting Vietnamese students, South Korea faces challenges in retaining them after graduation. Nguyen Linh, a KAIST computer science graduate and GKS recipient, returned to Vietnam to join Microsoft Vietnam due to difficulties with Korean language skills, residency status, and employment opportunities in South Korea. She noted that peers studying in English-speaking countries found corporate internships more accessible.

This situation highlights the need for South Korea to improve conditions for highly talented foreign graduates to settle in the country. Other nations have implemented strategies to address this. Singapore’s National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) offer scholarships requiring graduates to work for local companies for three years. France has established the University of Science and Technology of Hanoi (USTH) to facilitate direct progression to master’s and doctoral programs in France. Japan has significantly eased permanent residency requirements for skilled professionals, reducing the eligibility period for some technical talent from 10 years to just one year, leading to a substantial increase in Vietnamese professionals in Japan.