Factors Attracting International Students to Vietnamese Higher Education Institutions: The Case of Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City

This article investigates factors influencing international students’ decisions to study in member institutions of Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (VNUHCM). Employing qualitative data from interviews conducted with twenty international students from five Asian countries studying in four VNUHCM’s member universities, the findings identify factors that attract the students to Vietnam and their host institutions. The data show that the students were “pulled” to Vietnam by various factors, among which access to scholarships and financial factors such as Vietnam’s bright economic prospects or job opportunities play crucial roles. Other than that, political and geographical proximity and fondness for Vietnamese language also have their say in international students’ destination choice of Vietnam. Regarding institutional pull factors, reputation of the institutions in the students’ fields of demand is the most important followed by influences from family, friends and social media platforms. Against such findings, this article proposes several recommendations for VNUHCM and its members institutions as well as other higher education institutions in Vietnam to attract more international students in the future.