Vietnam has witnessed many changes in its education and training system in recent years. Fast economic growth combined with a young population has created a great demand for higher education but the current education system lags a little behind in meeting this demand. Because of this, Vietnam presents a promising opportunity for international institutions. The current international cooperation in education has produced fruitful results for both Vietnamese and foreign universities. Some international universities have made a name in Vietnam through this type of cooperation. Standing out from many others, The University of New South Wales (UNSW), is working to create more opportunities than ever for Vietnamese students to study at UNSW, Australia.
General Information
UNSW was established in 1949 and has been accepting international students since 1951 making it Australia’s first international university. It continues to attract outstanding scholars and students from around the world. UNSW is a founding member of the prestigious
Group of Eight research intensive universities in Australia and was ranked 45th in the world in the UK’s 2008 Times Higher Education Supplement. UNSW now has close to 44,000 students, including more than 9000 international students from over 130 different countries.
Faculties
UNSW delivers over 400 undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs across its nine faculties: Arts and Social Sciences; The Australian School of Business, Built Environment; Engineering; Law; Science; Medicine: Fine Arts and the Australian Defense Force Academy (ADFA – located in Canberra). UNSW also provides English language courses at its Institute of Languages (UNSWWIL) and a University preparation program, the UNSW Foundation Year Program.
UNSW’s university preparation program is flexibly designed for grade 11 students and up and Foundation Year graduates have been shown to be the most successful of all students when they transfer to their UNSW undergraduate degree.
All UNSW faculties are highly ranked. In particular, UNSW’s Business Faculty, the Australian School of Business has achieved outstanding results in teaching and research: UNSW’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) is ranked 1st in Australia and 39th in the world (according to Financial Times 2008-UK) and the Faculty has been ranked top in the world for Accounting research (Accounting and Finance Journal, June, 2007).
The UNSW Faculty of Engineering is consistently ranked the top Engineering faculty in Australia.
What makes UNSW different? Firstly, UNSW has established close links with industry and business to assure accordance between academic programs and the demands of the workplace. It has been shown that UNSW graduates have the highest starting salaries when they enter the workforce.
Secondly, UNSW is a highly research intensive university. UNSW has almost 100 research, teaching program and community centres and is home to several Australian National Research Centres. UNSW is currently building the Lowy Centre for Cancer Research - the largest integrated cancer research institute in the Southern Hemisphere.
UNSW is host to groundbreaking
research in fields as diverse as quantum computing, molecular engineering, photovoltaics, robotics, biomedical research, financial markets and design and interactive cinema. It consistently performs at the top nationally in Australian Research Council Industry Linkage Grants. UNSW expertise is also regularly sought after by business and government for a wide range of consultancy and training services.
Engagement in Vietnam
Back in the 1950s in its early days, UNSW received many Vietnamese students through the Colombo Plan – a scholarship program funded by the Australian Government. Since these early beginnings, the cooperation and commitment of UNSW to Vietnam has become stronger and closer.
In 2005, UNSW opened its first representative office in Ha Noi – the first Australian University to establish a Representative. Office in Vietnam – to provide full and detailed information about UNSW for Vietnamese students.
In mid 2008, to further support Vietnamese students, UNSW opened a branch representative office in Ho Chi Minh City. At the official opening of the HCMC office, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for cooperation was signed between UNSW and The International University, Vietnam National University - HCM City (VNU-HCM-IU). One of the first activities under this MOU is an agreement whereby Vietnamese engineering students, after completing 2 years of their undergraduate degree at VNU-HCM-IU, can transfer to UNSW to complete the final 2 years of their degree, receiving a UNSW degree on completion. This allows a saving on fees while still allowing student to obtain a degree from a prestigious Australian university.
In July, 2008, a further MOU was signed by UNSW and Vietnam International Education Development – Ministry of Education and Training (VIED-MOET) for a joint UNSW –MOET PhD scholarship programme. According to this scholarship agreement, , students enrolling for a PhD programme at UNSW will receive, for the first three years, a 25% fee scholarship from UNSW and a maximum of US$15,000 per year towards fees from MOET. In addition, apart from the living allowance provided by MOET for 322 scholarship program students, UNSW will provide an additional living allowance of AU$ 5.000 per year – also for 3 years.
More than a University – a lively centre of culture and learning
UNSW epitomizes a modern learning and teaching institution with the latest equipment and systems available to support learning including a library system with 2 million books and documents. UNSW students have the opportunity to interact with and understand different cultures by participating in International Student Groups and Organizations. There are over 200 student clubs and many other extracurricular activities such as cultural exchange talks, community events, and social activities. The University is also equipped with modern sporting facilities.
International Student Services at UNSW provides support to all international students. Advisors are always on hand for students to have personal and confidential discussions on any matter of concern, including decisions students have to make (study, finances, personal), assistance with practical difficulties (housing, health, finance, bureaucracy, student visas), personal relationships or issues affecting the student’s dependants in Australia.
Phuong Le
Vietnamese
