Students participating in a seminar on studying in the United States. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — More than 31,000 Vietnamese citizens are currently studying in the US, making Việt Nam the fifth-largest source of international students there in the 2024-2025 academic year, the Ministry of Education and Training said.

The number of Vietnamese students in the US rose 6 per cent during the academic year, according to the ministry.

Since 2009, the education ministry has sent about 127 Vietnamese citizens to the US to pursue doctoral degrees with State funding under Project 911. Around 30,000 others are studying in the country through other scholarship programmes or at their own expense.

Education cooperation has expanded significantly in recent years, involving government agencies, universities and major technology companies.

Việt Nam and the US have around 50 joint university training programmes, mostly at the undergraduate and masters level. The main fields include engineering and technology, computer science and economics. Universities in the two countries also cooperate on science and technology, climate change, agriculture and STEM education.

Fulbright University Vietnam, established in 2016, is a non-profit university in HCM City that is wholly owned by a foreign investor based in the US.

Under a 2020 agreement, the US Peace Corps sends volunteers to Việt Nam each year to teach English. The agreement was renewed in 2025, and Việt Nam has so far received 38 volunteers working at 30 high schools in Hà Nội and HCM City.

The US Agency for International Development has provided about US$68 million for projects in Việt Nam, while the Educational Testing Service has trained more than 300 Vietnamese officials involved in educational testing and quality accreditation, according to the ministry.

US technology companies have also become increasingly involved in Việt Nam's education sector. Intel has worked with Vietnamese universities on digital transformation and AI training, while Việt Nam has established a working group with Apple to develop highly skilled engineers for the company's manufacturing and development activities.

Qualcomm and the Ministry of Education and Training signed a memorandum of understanding on digital transformation and artificial intelligence in January. Qualcomm is supporting an Edge AI laboratory at Hanoi University of Science and Technology and AI research partnerships with several Vietnamese universities.

The company is also helping establish a smart-model laboratory at Electric Power University to support practical training for Việt Nam's future renewable energy workforce.

The ministry said Việt Nam wants to further expand cooperation with the US in STEM, AI and semiconductor training, while encouraging major US technology companies including Intel, Google, Apple, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft to participate in workforce development.

Hà Nội also wants to strengthen links between Vietnamese and US universities and attract more US investment in higher education, including the establishment of branch campuses in Việt Nam by highly ranked US universities. — VNS