Preparing program names and codes for 2027

Circular 74/2026/TT-BGDĐT · Field classification

The detail

1. The rule and its status

Vietnamese higher-education programs must use the new field classification for intakes from January 1, 2027, with protections for earlier cohorts. In force: issued August 28, 2026; legally effective October 12, 2026; applies to intakes from January 1, 2027. Article 10 replaces Circular 09/2022. Official signed text.

2. Who it affects and what it means for a US school

This is the identified 2027 degree-program reorganization: classification, naming and codes, rather than a rule requiring every university or partnership to merge. Article 3 connects the classification to curricula, admissions, training, accreditation and qualifications. Article 5 classifies programs by their core knowledge, skills, objectives and professional orientation; multidisciplinary marketing names do not decide the Vietnamese classification by themselves.

A US partner preparing a 2027 intake should obtain the Vietnamese partner's documented mapping to the new list. Article 2 defines a six-digit field code. Do not copy an old seven-digit program identifier into the new framework without checking the new field code and how the program/level is recorded in institutional systems.

3. What to do, by partnership model

• Recruitment: use the Vietnamese institution's current published program list and intake year. Do not infer an award name or accreditation scope solely from an English brochure.
• 2+2/3+1: update credit maps and agreements to identify old and new Vietnamese names/codes, without implying a curriculum equivalence from a renamed field alone.
• Dual degree and joint program: maintain a crosswalk for each Vietnamese program and each foreign award. A classification change does not grant permission to award another institution's degree.
• Online/blended: classify the underlying field separately from the mode. A new field name does not expand permitted online delivery.
• Branch campus: verify applicability to the institution/program and align the program record with its Vietnamese authorization; this circular is not branch-establishment permission.

Article 9 requires institutions to classify and publish their programs, update national higher-education data and report to MOET. Institutions may have multiple differently oriented programs within one field. Updates to the national list go through MOET's procedure, rather than unilateral addition of a new national field code by a foreign partner.

4. Change history

Article 11 requires institutions to review and place specified existing/pilot/self-opened fields in the appropriate new category before January 1, 2027. Fields renamed or recoded from the Circular 09/2022 list and Decision 1596/QĐ-BGDĐT of June 7, 2024 recruit/train with the new name and code from January 1. Intakes before January 1 continue under the information published when they were recruited. Articles 10–11, signed pages 6–7. The older instruments are identified there. Check later amendments to those older instruments before relying on them.

5. Sources and verification

Official Vietnamese signed PDF · Government register · Government explanation

Last verified: 2026-10-21. English explanation; the official Vietnamese text controls.

6. Related pages

Articulation · University organization · University Atlas · Why partnerships stall.

7. Briefing and legal note

Not legal advice. Prepare a briefing with a USVN senior advisor with the intake year, existing approval and proposed Vietnamese/English program names to identify the mapping and amendment questions before recruitment.

For general information only, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with qualified counsel and the relevant Vietnamese authorities before acting.