This is a concrete step towards implementing Article 7 of the Law on Higher Education No. 125/2025/QH15 and the Party and State’s policies on making breakthroughs in the development of education, science and technology, innovation and high-quality human resources.
The Strategy’s overarching goal is to make higher education a “national strategic knowledge infrastructure”, playing a core role in developing highly qualified human resources, nurturing talent, conducting scientific research and enhancing the country’s competitiveness.
The Strategy not only sets targets for 2030 and 2035, but also brings about a fundamental change in thinking on higher education development and governance.
By 2035, Viet Nam aims to have 100% of higher education institutions meeting standards; the proportion of people aged 18-22 attending university reaching 45%; postgraduates accounting for 15% of learners; STEM learners accounting for 40% of enrolment at each level; and 90% of graduates securing suitable employment within 12 months...
The Strategy sets a target for the proportion of graduates securing suitable employment within 12 months to reach 90%. At the same time, the proportion of lecturers holding doctoral degrees is to reach 50%, with 20 leading regional centres of excellence in research to be established, and the share of revenue earned by higher education institutions from science, technology, innovation and knowledge transfer to be increased to 15%.
Regarding international integration, the target for 2035 is to gradually bring Viet Nam’s higher education system into the leading group in ASEAN; with 10 higher education institutions ranked among the top 200 universities in Asia and two institutions ranked among the world’s top 100 by field of study.
The Strategy also identifies around 30 key higher education institutions to implement national, regional and sectoral strategies; of which three to five institutions will be developed into elite universities under the model of world-class research universities. At the same time, investment will be made to develop 20 to 25 national-level centres of excellence in research and 10 internationally recognised centres of excellence in research within key higher education institutions.
