US-Vietnam intensify education cooperation with scholarships

On July 7 Hanoi saw the official announcement of the $6 million Scholars Programme granted by the US’ Portland State University (PSU), known as the PSU Scholar Programme.

Within the framework of this initiative, all students from PSU’s Vietnamese partner institutions will be guaranteed a minimum scholarship of $4,500 upon successful enrolment at the American university. The maximum award can reach up to $10,000/ student per annum, totalling US$50,000/student for a five-year course.

Currently, PSU’s partner institutions include the Foreign Trade University Hanoi, the University of Economics and Business – Hanoi, the Eastern International University – Binh Duong, the University of Science – Vietnam, the University of Ho Chi Minh City (VNUHCMU) and the International University – VNUHCMU.

The scholarship is applicable for students at all levels, including freshmen, transfer students, as well as masters and Ph.D. candidates, covering all majors and fields of study available at PSU.

At the announcement ceremony, US Embassy Counsellor for Public Affairs Terry White stated: “Education, broadly stated, is one of our principal foreign policies in Vietnam. This type of co-operation between the two countries’ universities is what the Embassy of the US to Vietnam whole-heartedly supports.”

“We hope to see more co-operation programmes like this in the time to come,” he added.

“PSU’s vision is for Vietnam to be our largest international partner within the next five years. Vietnam has stepped onto the world stage as a leader in technology and innovation, and PSU is keen to help prepare the next generation of leaders in Vietnam. Our history in Vietnam and our warm affection for the people in this country makes us ideal partners in these endeavours,” Wim Wievel, president of PSU said.

Currently, 90 of PSU’s 2,166 international students are from Vietnam.

As a public educational institution in the US, PSU has been recognised as one of America’s best ten colleges for three consecutive years by the US News & World Report as well as The Princeton Review.

Other key engagements of PSU in Vietnam include the Intel Vietnam Scholars Programme, the Vietnam-Oreo Initiative (VOI), training programmes for Vietnamese senior public officials under Programme 165 and academic collaborations with local universities.