Joint Circular No. 28/2003/TTLT-BTC-BGDĐT stipulates the collection and use of examination fees (admission fees) for admission to educational institutions under the National Education System.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Regulations on the collection and use of examination fees and admission fees (enrollment fees)

for entry into educational and training institutions within the national education system

_____________________________

Pursuant to the Education Law, Decree No. 43/2000/NĐ-CP dated August 30, 2000 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Education Law;

Pursuant to the Ordinance on Fees and Charges dated August 28, 2001 and Decree No. 57/2002/NĐ-CP dated June 3, 2002 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Fees and Charges;

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education and Training hereby stipulate the regulations on the collection and use of examination fees and admission fees (enrollment fees) for entry into educational and training institutions within the national education system as follows:

I- GENERAL PRINCIPLES:

1. Examination fees and admission fees (enrollment fees) are amounts paid by candidates (or their families) participating in entrance examinations to educational and training institutions within the national education system that are required by law to conduct entrance examinations, to ensure activities related to the recruitment process of agencies and units directly involved in the recruitment process (Ministry of Education and Training, Departments of Education and Training, educational and training institutions within the national education system).

2. Industries, localities, and educational and training institutions within the national education system shall not independently establish and collect examination fees and admission fees contrary to the provisions of this Circular.

3. Examination fees and admission fees shall be collected at the prescribed rates, used for their intended purposes, and managed with financial expenditures according to current financial regulations.

4. Examination fees and admission fees include: Fees for registration, examination, preliminary selection, evaluation, and selection for enrollment.

II- APPLICABLE OBJECTS AND FEES:

1. Candidates who actually register for entrance examinations to educational and training institutions within the national education system (if required by law to organize entrance examinations) must pay examination fees and admission fees as stipulated in Point 2, Part II of this Circular, including:

a) Candidates registering for and taking entrance examinations to secondary schools.

b) Candidates registering for and taking entrance examinations to higher education institutions, colleges, vocational high schools, and vocational training centers.

c) Candidates registering for and taking entrance examinations for postgraduate studies.

d) Candidates registering for and taking entrance examinations for overseas training funded by the state budget.

2. The rates for collecting examination fees and admission fees for entry into educational and training institutions within the national education system are specified as follows:

2.1/ Examination fees and admission fees for institutions and educational and training facilities under central management:

a) Entrance examinations for secondary schools (if applicable): 15,000 (fifteen thousand) VND per candidate per examination attempt.

b) Entrance examinations for universities, colleges, vocational high schools, and vocational training centers:

b.1. Candidates eligible for direct admission or preferential admission to universities, colleges, vocational high schools, and vocational training centers: 15,000 (fifteen thousand) VND per candidate per application.

b.2. Candidates registering for and taking entrance examinations and preliminary selections to universities, colleges, vocational high schools, and vocational training centers (for institutions that organize examinations):

- Registration for examination: 40,000 (forty thousand) VND per candidate per application.

- Preliminary selection (for institutions that conduct preliminary selection before the formal examination): 20,000 (twenty thousand) VND per candidate per examination attempt (including all subjects).

- Doctoral candidate selection: 200,000 (two hundred thousand) VND/candidate.

+ Cultural subject examination: 20,000 (twenty thousand) VND per candidate per examination attempt (including all subjects).

+ Special talent subject examination: 50,000 (fifty thousand) VND per candidate per examination attempt (including all subjects).

c) Entrance examinations for postgraduate studies:

- Registration for examination: 50,000 (fifty thousand) VND per candidate per application.

- Examination: 100,000 (one hundred thousand) VND per candidate per subject examined.

d) Entrance examinations for overseas training funded by the state budget:

- Registration for examination: 50,000 (fifty thousand) VND per candidate per application.

- Doctoral candidate selection: 200,000 (two hundred thousand) VND/candidate.

+ Foreign language subject: 200,000 (two hundred thousand) VND per candidate.

+ Foundation, basic, and specialized subject: 100,000 (one hundred thousand) VND per candidate per subject examined.

2.2/ Rates for collecting examination fees and admission fees for educational and training institutions under local management:

Implement the rates set by the People's Council of provinces and centrally-administered cities in accordance with local realities. The Department of Finance and Price Control is responsible for coordinating with the Department of Education and Training to determine the rates based on necessary and reasonable costs for organizing entrance examinations (including construction costs, labor costs, and other allowances based on labor costs, management costs, etc.) in accordance with the principles and guidelines for determining fee rates as stipulated in Circular No. 63/2002/TT-BTC dated July 24, 2002, issued by the Ministry of Finance, guiding the implementation of laws on fees and enrollment fees, and the provisions of this Circular, to submit to the provincial People's Council for decision in accordance with Article 92 of the Education Law.

3. Examination fees and admission fees shall be collected in Vietnamese Dong.

III- DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT, AND USE OF FUNDS COLLECTED FROM FEES:

1. Distribution of funds collected from examination fees and admission fees:

a) All funds from registration fees for universities, colleges, vocational high schools, and vocational training centers collected directly by Departments of Education and Training shall be distributed as follows:

- A portion of 4,000 (four thousand) VND per application per candidate shall be remitted to the Ministry of Education and Training to supplement funding for implementing the recruitment process and other related work of the Ministry.

- Departments of Education and Training may retain 6,500 (six thousand five hundred) VND per application per candidate (for candidates submitting applications to the department) to supplement funding for implementing the recruitment process at the local level.

- The remaining registration fee funds shall be transferred to the educational and training institution where the candidate registered for the examination.

b) All funds from registration fees for universities, colleges, vocational high schools, and vocational training centers collected directly by educational and training institutions shall be remitted to the Ministry of Education and Training 4,000 (four thousand) VND per application per candidate to supplement funding for implementing the recruitment process and other related work of the Ministry; the remaining funds shall be used for recruitment activities at the educational and training institution.

c) All funds from preliminary selection, examination, and evaluation fees for universities, colleges, vocational high schools, and vocational training centers collected directly by educational and training institutions shall be used according to regulations.

d) All funds from examination fees for secondary school entrance examinations, postgraduate studies, and overseas training funded by the state budget collected directly by organizations, units, and educational and training institutions conducting the examinations shall be used according to regulations.

2. Use of funds collected from examination fees and admission fees:

Agencies and units directly involved in the admission process may use the examination registration fee funds allocated according to the provisions of Point 1, Section herein for expenses related to the admission process as follows:

a) Organizing candidates to register for the examination and serving preparatory work for the examination, including:

- Expenses for implementing the admission process from the Ministry down to provincial departments and educational institutions.

- Expenses for meetings, training staff, inspections, and audits;

- Expenses for receiving and processing registration applications;

- Expenses for entering and processing data on computers;

- Expenses for preparing, printing, and securing examination questions;

- Expenses for renting examination rooms, transportation, medical care, drinking water, security, and office supplies;

- Expenses for printing examination notification letters and examination room lists.

- Expenses for public relations on mass media (including the Internet);

- Expenses for purchasing scratch paper, examination paper, and fee receipts;

- Other expenses directly related to organizing admission work.

b) Serving the examination process, including:

- Expenses for organizing examination supervision.

- Expenses for grading, rechecking, and reviewing grades;

- Expenses for preliminary screening, assessment, and summoning successful candidates;

- Expenses for printing scorebooks and examination result certificates.

- Expenses for checking the results of successful candidates.

- Expenses for reviewing research and internship proposals;

- Expenses for public relations on mass media (including the Internet);

- Expenses for purchasing fee receipts and office supplies;

- Other expenses directly related to the examination process.

The expenditure standards for the aforementioned items at Point 2 shall be stipulated by the Ministry of Education and Training after obtaining a written consensus from the Ministry of Finance.

3. Management of Examination Registration Fee Revenue:

Agencies and units directly involved in admission work shall be responsible for:

a) Publicly display the examination registration fee rates at the collection points and collect fees strictly in accordance with the rates specified in Point 2 of Part II of this Circular. When collecting examination registration fees, a receipt must be issued to the payer in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Finance. Receipts should be obtained from local tax authorities where the entity is headquartered (or self-printed receipts after reaching agreement with the Provincial Tax Department) and managed and used in accordance with the receipt management system for fees and charges prescribed by the Ministry of Finance.

b) Every ten days, agencies and units collecting fees must deposit all collected examination registration fees into their temporary holding account titled "fees and charges" at the State Treasury where they conduct transactions.

c) Maintain accounting records and vouchers to track the collection and management of examination registration fees in accordance with the accounting system for administrative and public service units issued together with Decision No. 999/TC/QĐ-CĐKT dated November 2, 1996 of the Ministry of Finance and Circular No. 121/2002/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2002 of the Ministry of Finance guiding accounting for revenue-generating public service units (and the accounting system applicable to non-state entities operating in education, healthcare, culture, and sports issued together with Decision No. 12/2001/QĐ-BTC dated March 13, 2001 of the Ministry of Finance for state-owned educational institutions).

d) Annually, budget estimates for examination registration fee revenues and expenditures must be prepared simultaneously with financial budgets. The preparation and implementation of these budgets, as well as the management and tracking of revenue and expenditures, must comply with current financial regulations and be consolidated into periodic financial reports of the agency or unit according to the budget management hierarchy, ensuring transparency and democratic principles in financial matters.

e) Self-balance the revenue sources to cover expenses for organizing the admission process. In cases where revenue is insufficient to cover expenses, educational institutions may use existing unit funds to cover admission process costs; for institutions tasked with overseas training funded by the state budget, supplementary funding will be provided by the state budget.

Any surplus from examination registration fees (if any) will be added to the operational budget of the unit.

IV. IMPLEMENTATION

1. This Circular takes effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette, replacing Circular No. 03/TT-LB dated February 29, 1996 of the Joint Ministry of Education and Training - Finance "Guidelines for the Collection and Use of Admission Fees for Universities, Colleges, and Secondary Vocational Schools," Circular No. 95/2000/TT-BTC dated September 22, 2000 of the Ministry of Finance "Regarding Admission Fees for Overseas Training Funded by the State Budget," and Circular No. 34/2001/TT-BTC dated May 25, 2001 of the Ministry of Finance "Guidelines for the Collection and Use of Admission Fees for State-Owned Educational Institutions."

2. Provincial Departments of Finance and Price Control, and Tax Departments of centrally governed cities have the responsibility to guide and inspect the collection and management of examination registration fees in accordance with this Circular.

Candidates required to pay examination registration fees, and agencies and units collecting such fees, must comply with the provisions of this Circular.

During implementation, if there are any issues, agencies, units, and individuals are requested to report them to the Joint Ministry of Finance - Education and Training for research and resolution.