10.6.1. Non-discriminatory admissions policy

University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) officially promulgated the 2024 University Enrollment Regulations under Decision No. 584/QD-DHKT-DT dated March 15, 2024, which are reviewed annually to ensure equity, transparency, and compliance with the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training. These regulations are publicly disclosed on the UEH Enrollment Information Portal tuyensinh.ueh.edu.vn, the Admission Portal https://xettuyen.ueh.edu.vn and the official UEH Information Portal https://ueh.edu.vn/tuyen-sinh, affirming UEH’s implementation of an enrollment policy that does not discriminate based on gender, ethnicity, religion, disabilities, or economic background, while simultaneously ensuring equal opportunity for all candidates. It clearly states: “UEH implements all necessary measures to create favorable conditions and equal opportunity for all candidates; no candidate shall lose their chance to enroll due to regulations unrelated to their capacity and qualifications.” This regulation demonstrates a strong commitment to equality in access to higher education, ensuring that gender, ethnicity, socio-economic conditions, religion, or disabilities are not barriers for learners. Furthermore, the Regulations also stipulate a mechanism for handling complaints and denunciations in enrollment, ensuring transparency and accountability throughout the entire process.

UEH also implements an affirmative action policy to support vulnerable groups, which is fully public and transparent. Specifically, the 2024 Regulation stipulates clear bonus points by geographical area and for policy beneficiaries. Furthermore, the university offers direct admission to individuals with severe disabilities, candidates from ethnic groups with very small populations, or candidates from poor border and island districts, provided they complete supplementary knowledge training before formal studies. These policies affirm a commitment to equality and ensure practical support for disadvantaged groups in accessing higher education. All details are published in the official admission plan on the university’s portal (https://tuyensinh.ueh.edu.vn/bai-viet/de-an-tuyen-sinh-dai-hoc-nam-2024-cua-dai-hoc-kinh-te-tp-ho-chi-minh-dao-tao-tai-co-so-tp-ho-chi-minh-ma-dang-ky-xet-tuyen-ksa/), enabling candidates to easily access information and prepare supporting documents.

Regulations on bonus points by target Groups and priority areas in the 2024 University Admission Plan of the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City

UEH aligns its admission policy with its commitment to gender equality. The university has implemented an online admission system (xettuyen.ueh.edu.vn), where applicant profiles integrate gender information, allowing UEH to monitor the female ratio from the stages of application submission, admission to final enrollment. A visual dashboard enables the analysis of the female ratio by major and field group, particularly in sectors with existing gender biases. Periodic reports from the Training Department show that this data is used as an evidence-based foundation for policy planning, narrowing the gender gap, and supporting female students during their studies. In 2024, UEH further enhanced the “Understanding You” platform (hieuveban.ueh.edu.vn) – a career advisory tool that is entirely gender-neutral. The algorithm suggests majors based on competency and interests, without using gender as an exclusion criterion, thereby encouraging female students to confidently choose fields in technology and engineering.

UEH also demonstrates a strong commitment to ensuring equal opportunity in education access for students from the bottom 20% income households. UEH applies an admission priority policy for the poor, the near-poor, ethnic minorities from disadvantaged areas, people with disabilities, relatives of meritorious individuals, and military personnel in especially difficult areas… without quota restrictions, ensuring no barriers to learning opportunities. This regulation is detailed in the Guidelines for documenting proof of eligibility for priority target groups and areas in 2024 admissions (https://tuyensinh.ueh.edu.vn/bai-viet/huong-dan-ho-so-minh-chung-doi-tuong-uu-tien-khu-vuc-uu-tien-trong-tuyen-sinh-dai-hoc-chinh-quy-nam-2024/) publicly disclosed on the official admissions website (http://tuyensinh.ueh.edu.vn). Admission reports indicate that hundreds of new students from the bottom 20% group have been admitted and enrolled, accounting for a significant proportion of the total freshman class.

UEH’s affirmative priority policy is designed based on the principles of social equity and equal opportunity in learning, aiming to address regional disparities and economic conditions. The award of bonus points or direct admission for candidates such as those from ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, poor households, and remote areas is conducted based on assessments of academic capability and development potential, ensuring all applicants meet the minimum academic requirements. This policy does not aim to lower admission standards but to create equal access opportunities, clearly guided in the publicly available “Guidelines for documenting proof of eligibility for priority target groups and areas in 2024 admissions”, publicly at https://xettuyen.ueh.edu.vn/quydinh.

All the above activities are integrated into a transparent, publicly accessible system with an accountability mechanism. Applicants have full access to information on the admission portal, enrollment site (nhaphoc.ueh.edu.vn) and student portal (student.ueh.edu.vn), with a step-by-step process covering tuition, scholarships, dormitories, and academic advising. These channels ensure synchronized data, enabling continuous tracking of the applicant’s journey, while affirming fairness and gender neutrality at every stage.

Furthermore, UEH has established a mechanism for receiving complaints and handling denunciations in admissions, ensuring transparency and equality for all candidates. The 2024 Admission Regulations (Articles 20 and 26) clearly stipulate the university’s responsibility in receiving and handling cases, under the principle that complainants do not lose their admission consideration opportunity, and cases are reviewed objectively by an independent council. This mechanism ensures that all admission decisions can be transparently reviewed and reinforces candidates’ trust in the fairness and accountability of UEH.

Articles 20 and 26 of the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City’s regulation on university-level admission organization

Compared to 2023, when UEH primarily announced a non-discriminatory admission policy at a regulatory level, 2024 marks a clear progression in both policy and implementation. The 2024 Regulation provides more specific provisions on equal opportunity, establishes a transparent complaint resolution mechanism, and deploys an online admission system alongside a gender analysis dashboard to monitor the increasing proportion of female students across academic programs. Additional elements include guidelines for priority application dossiers, direct admission mechanisms, and gender-neutral counseling tools, showing that UEH not only maintain equal policy but also improve the implementation quality and measuring capabilities and through that, expand educational opportunities for the disadvantaged and  strengthen transparency throughout the admission process.

Open related links:

1. UEH Enrollment Information Portal – http://tuyensinh.ueh.edu.vn

2. UEH Admission Portal – https://xettuyen.ueh.edu.vn

3. February 16th, 2024 – UEH’s official admission plan – https://tuyensinh.ueh.edu.vn/bai-viet/de-an-tuyen-sinh-dai-hoc-nam-2024-cua-dai-hoc-kinh-te-tp-ho-chi-minh-dao-tao-tai-co-so-tp-ho-chi-minh-ma-dang-ky-xet-tuyen-ksa/

4. Understanding You platform – http://hieuveban.ueh.edu.vn

5. August 9th, 2024 – Guidelines for documenting proof of eligibility for priority target groups and areas in 2024 admissions – https://tuyensinh.ueh.edu.vn/bai-viet/huong-dan-ho-so-minh-chung-doi-tuong-uu-tien-khu-vuc-uu-tien-trong-tuyen-sinh-dai-hoc-chinh-quy-nam-2024/

6. UEH Enrollment Site – http://nhaphoc.ueh.edu.vn

7. UEH Student Portal – http://student.ueh.edu.vn