Quality assurance and accreditation in Vietnamese higher education are currently centralized. Quality assurance policies in the form of accreditation procedures, standards, and guidelines are developed and promulgated by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET).

MOET has the jurisdiction to issue and control higher education accreditation standards and criteria. Accreditation is a requirement in Vietnam for all higher education providers and courses. The new MOET rule on higher education institution certification, which was released in 2017, comprises 25 standards and 111 criteria for external review. Self-assessment, external evaluation, appraisal of external evaluation results, and recognition of satisfying national higher education quality requirements are the four steps in the accreditation process.

Quality assurance in Vietnamese higher education is being carried out. As of September 2021, there have been 152 higher education institutions accredited by Centres for Education Accreditation.

University Establishment

The Prime Minister holds the authority to establish public universities as well as private universities. And the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) allows the operation of these schools.

Under Article 87 of the Decree No. 46/2017/ND-CP dated April 21st, 2017 of the Vietnam Government on Prescribing Regulatory Requirements for Education Investment and Operation, any person who intends to establish a school shall meet the conditions for establishing facilities, equipment, etc. prescribed by Government Decree. In addition, any founder or operator of a public or private university that intends to abolish the university shall comply with the requirements prescribed in Article 96 of the Decree No. 46/2017/ND-CP dated April 21st, 2017.

 Accreditation Agency Establishment

In order for quality accreditation organizations to be independent of state management agencies, since 2014, The Ministry of Education and Training has allowed the operation of 05 public centers and 02 private centers for education accreditation to conduct assessment and accreditation activities in Vietnam. These centers conduct external assessments as well as accredited universities and programs that meet the standards set by the MOET. The establishment of these accreditation bodies is expected to improve the quality of Vietnam's higher education.

Up until now, MOET has allowed 03 international centers for education accreditation to operate in Vietnam.

Link: https://www.en-fibaa.org/nc/en/welcome-page/

         https://www.aqas.eu/

                 https://www.asiin.de/en/home.html

Assessment and Accreditation

Vietnam implements both institutional accreditation and program accreditation. All 07 Vietnamese accrediting agencies have the right to conduct both of these types of accreditation and have used the same sets of assessment standards issued by MOET.

To provide a degree of independence, these centers are licensed to accredit all higher education institutions and programs, save the schools, colleges, and programs of the hosting universities. These centers have the authority to recognize institutions and programs that meet accreditation standards without the need for a third party's approval.

Institutional Accreditation

The set of standards for university quality accreditation were issued for the use of higher education institutions and educational quality accreditation organizations, ensuring the principles of Educational Quality Assurance.

According to the list of MOET updated on January 31st, 2021, 164 higher education institutions, 10 pedagogical colleges are recognized for fulfilling all of the national quality criteria and 07 universities are recognized for foreign quality criteria.

Link:https://moet.gov.vn/giaoducquocdan/khao-thi-va-kiem-dinh-chat-luong-giao-duc/Pages/Default.aspx?ItemID=7508

Program Accreditation

As of July 2021, Vietnam has accredited the total number of domestic and international programs that meet the standards and criteria for higher education accreditation set out by MOET as follows:

Number of self-assessment programs : 430

Number of external evaluated programs: 293

Number of programs that meet Accreditation Quality Standards: 241