Law 125/2025/QH15 · Higher Education Law
What this means for you
- The law recognizes international cooperation in teaching, research, curriculum, learning recognition and digital platforms, with Vietnamese legal and learner-protection requirements.
- Confirm the actual institution, issuer, activity, location and intake before selecting a partnership model. An MOU or general autonomy label does not establish program authority.
- Public-university councils ended activity from January 1, 2026. Check the current signatory and institutional governance documents.
- Check the specific rules for delivery, quality, recognition and foreign-provider investment as well as the law. Existing programs and decisions have defined transition protections.
Questions about how this applies to your institution? Talk it through with a USVN senior advisor.
The detail
1. The rule and its status
The new Higher Education Law governs Vietnamese higher education, including institutional governance, programs, quality, cooperation and investment; foreign-linked degree authorization is delegated to Government rules. In force: passed December 10, 2025; effective January 1, 2026, with the listed delegated provisions effective July 1. Official law, Articles 43–46.
2. Who it affects and what it means for a US school
It affects every US partnership involving a Vietnamese HEI. The relevant question is the actual institution, award, activity, site and intake. Article 43 recognizes cooperation in degrees/certificates, accumulated learning, research, curriculum and digital platforms, but requires conformity with Vietnamese law and applicable treaties, transparency and protection of learners. Article 43(4) delegates the conditions, procedure, authority and responsibilities for foreign-linked degrees/certificates to the Government. The statutory recognition of a cooperation model is not permission to begin recruiting or teaching it.
Governance changed materially. Article 46(1) ended public university and institutional councils from January 1, with transfer of records to the head. Certain earlier council instruments continue temporarily under Article 46(2). Do not use an older public-university council resolution as conclusive current contracting or program-approval authority.
3. What to do, by partnership model
- Recruitment: describe the actual proposed pathway and issuer; verify the provider and disclosures before making promises about admissions, completion or recognition.
- 2+2/3+1: document recognized learning and remaining requirements. Article 43's recognition category does not establish an automatic US credit entitlement.
- Dual degree/joint program: apply the Government authorization rules as well as the issuer's and institution's current academic/governance rules. A signed MOU does not establish the delegated approval.
- Online/blended: Article 43 includes digital cooperation, but the approved mode, technology standards and foreign-degree recognition conditions remain separate requirements.
- Branch campus: use Article 44's foreign-investment framework with current investment, establishment and operating rules, especially Decree 361. Do not classify a new legal entity as a simple cooperation agreement to bypass those requirements.
These are diligence implications of the law; the model-specific regulations supply the operative application requirements. A partner's general autonomy is insufficient evidence of authority for a particular foreign-linked award.
4. Change history
Article 45(3) ends Law 08/2012 as amended, including by 34/2018, subject to Article 46. The official repeal and transition clauses, pages 23–25, identify the earlier amendments. Article 45(2) stages specified delegated provisions, including 43(4)–(5), to July 1. Article 46 protects valid earlier establishment/operating/program files and specified decisions, with distinct 36/48-month quality/site transitions; institution-specific dates must be reconciled with later implementing instruments. Decree 91 and Circular 58 now address institutional identity/governance; Circular 54 addresses programs; Decree 361 addresses establishment and operation.
5. Sources and verification
Last verified: 2026-10-22. English explanation; the official Vietnamese text controls.
6. Related pages
Institutional implementation · Organization · Programs · Investment and operation · University Atlas · Why partnerships stall.
7. Briefing and legal note
Not legal advice. Prepare a briefing with a USVN senior advisor to turn the model, issuer, field, mode and cohort into a specific approval and evidence map with Vietnamese counsel.
For general information only, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with qualified counsel and the relevant Vietnamese authorities before acting.