Decree No. 73/2015/NĐ-CP stipulates the criteria for stratification, ranking framework, and ranking criteria for higher education institutions.

DECREE

Specifies the criteria for stratification, ranking framework, and ranking standards for higher education institutions.

Regarding the proposal of the Minister of Education and Training,

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Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;

Pursuant to the Higher Education Law on June 18, 2012;

Pursuant to the Law on Vocational Education dated November 27, 2014;

promulgates a Decree stipulating the criteria for stratification, ranking framework, and ranking standards for higher education institutions.

At the proposal of This Decree sets forth the criteria for stratification; ranking framework and ranking standards for higher education institutions; procedures and processes for stratification and ranking of higher education institutions.

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

This Decree applies to higher education institutions including National Universities, Regional Universities, universities and academies; organizations and individuals related thereto.

Stratification of higher education institutions refers to the classification of higher education institutions into groups based on educational goals and training orientations according to appropriate criteria as prescribed in this Decree. Higher education institutions are divided into three tiers: research-oriented higher education institutions; application-oriented higher education institutions; and practice-oriented higher education institutions.

Article 2. Interpretation of Terms

Ranking refers to the arrangement of higher education institutions in descending order of quality measured by points within each tier of the higher education system.

The ranking framework consists of upper and lower limits calculated in points to divide higher education institutions into categories based on quality groups within each tier of the higher education system.

A research-oriented training program is a program designed with the goal and content focused on deep specialization in fundamental principles and theories in various scientific fields, developing core technologies as a foundation for applied sciences and technology development.

An application-oriented training program is a program designed with the goal and content aimed at developing basic research results, applying core technologies into technological solutions, management processes, and complete tool designs serving diverse human needs.

A practice-oriented training program is a program designed with the goal and content focused on implementing technological solutions, management processes, production, and manufacturing tools for production and daily life based on existing designs.

Full-time faculty and researchers

a) Full-time faculty and researchers of public higher education institutions are civil servants hired, utilized, and managed in accordance with the laws on civil servants;

b) Full-time faculty and researchers of private higher education institutions are lecturers and researchers under labor contracts of 36 months or indefinite-term contracts as stipulated by the Labor Code, not concurrently working under labor contracts of three months or more with other employers, nor being state officials or civil servants; paid salaries and other benefits under current regulations by the higher education institution.

Criteria for stratification and ranking refer to the level of requirements and conditions that must be met in a specific aspect of each standard. These criteria include: position and role in the higher education system; scale, fields of study, and levels of training; structure of teaching and science and technology activities; quality of training and scientific research; and outcomes of educational quality assessment.

CRITERIA FOR STRATIFICATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Chapter II

STANDARDS FOR CLASSIFYING TIERED HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Article 3. Standards for higher education institutions oriented towards research

1. Position and role in the higher education system

It is a higher education institution that engages in specialized training and scientific research on fundamental principles and theories in various fields of science; develops source technologies; provides human resources with the ability to teach and conduct basic research; has the capacity to lead research to solve national and international scientific tasks.

2. Scale, majors, and levels of training

a) The scale of training for research-oriented undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs constitutes the largest proportion in the total training scale of the higher education institution;

b) The scale of training at the master's and doctoral levels accounts for more than 30% of the total training scale in majors and specializations oriented towards research;

c) There must be at least three specializations from bachelor's to doctoral level in basic sciences and applied basic sciences across three different major groups.

3. Structure of training activities and science and technology

a) It must have research units suitable for its training fields such as Research Institutes, basic science research centers, applied science research centers, and technology development centers;

b) Expenditure for science and technology activities must account for at least 20% of the total annual expenditure of the higher education institution;

c) Full-time lecturers must dedicate at least 50% of their standard working time to scientific research activities;

d) At least 80% of full-time lecturers and researchers must participate in scientific research and publish articles or works in domestic and international specialized scientific journals annually;

đ) The ratio of full-time lecturers and researchers with doctoral degrees must not be less than 30% of the total number of full-time lecturers and researchers of the higher education institution; for majors and specializations oriented towards research, this ratio must not be less than 50%;

e) Each doctoral specialization specified in Point c Clause 2 of this Article must have at least one Professor or three Associate Professors as full-time lecturers;

g) The student-to-lecturer ratio in research-oriented programs must not exceed 15.

Article 4. Standards for higher education institutions oriented towards application

1. Position and role in the higher education system

It is a higher education institution that primarily trains human resources in the direction of application; conducts scientific research and technology development focused on developing basic research results, applying source technologies into technological solutions, management processes, and complete tool designs to serve diverse human needs; has the capacity to lead research and solve national-level scientific and technological tasks and participate in regional and international scientific and technological research and problem-solving.

2. Scale, majors, and levels of training

a) The scale of training for application-oriented undergraduate and master's programs constitutes the largest proportion in the total training scale at the higher education institution;

b) Training fields are diverse and flexible according to the requirements of national economic and social development and international integration;

c) Primarily trains at the undergraduate and applied master's levels; a few specializations train at the research master's and doctoral levels;

3. Structure of training activities and science and technology

a) It must have a system of research and development laboratories, experimental production facilities, and technology incubation centers;

b) Expenditure for science and technology activities must account for at least 20% of the total annual expenditure of the higher education institution;

c) Annually, the ratio of full-time lecturers and researchers participating in scientific research and technology development, whose research results are published in domestic and international specialized scientific and technological journals or transferred and applied in practice, must not be lower than 70% of the total number of full-time lecturers and researchers of the higher education institution;

d) The ratio of full-time lecturers and researchers with doctoral degrees must not be lower than 15% of the total number of full-time lecturers and researchers of the higher education institution;

đ) The average student-to-lecturer ratio throughout the higher education institution must not exceed 25.

Article 5. Standards for higher education institutions oriented towards practical training

1. Position and role in the higher education system

These are higher education institutions that focus on training and developing students' practical skills, linking training with production realities; scientific research and technology concentrate on applying research results to real-life practices; providing human resources with practical knowledge and practical skills suitable for diverse labor demands of localities and regions, and economic organizations.

2. Scale, majors, and levels of training

a) The scale of training programs oriented towards practical training constitutes the largest proportion in the total training scale at the higher education institution;

b) A wide range of fields, focusing on areas where there is demand from localities; training programs are designed to be linked with vocational education programs;

c) Undergraduate training is the main focus.

3. Structure of training activities and science and technology

a) The ratio of expenditure for scientific and technological activities, experimental production, and new product development shall not be less than 10% of the total expenditure for activities of the higher education institution;

b) Each year, at least 30% of the full-time faculty members of the higher education institution participate in collaborative activities between the school and production realities or undertake scientific and technological tasks and projects, with published works;

c) At least 10% of the volume of training programs at the higher education institution involves teaching and specialized reports by experts, entrepreneurs, artisans, technical staff, experienced managers from domestic and foreign agencies, organizations, enterprises, and production bases.

Chapter III

FRAMEWORK FOR RANKING AND STANDARDS FOR RANKING OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

HIGHER EDUCATION

Article 6. Ranking Framework

1. All higher education institutions within each tier are ranked into three categories of the ranking framework in descending order: Category 1, Category 2, and Category 3 based on quality.

2. The ranking framework is determined by points with the following structure:

a) Category 1 includes the top 30% of higher education institutions with the highest scores;

b) Category 2 includes the next 40% of higher education institutions not covered by Points a and c of this Clause;

c) Category 3 includes the bottom 30% of higher education institutions with the lowest scores.

Article 7. Standards for ranking higher education institutions oriented towards research

1. Scale, fields, and levels of training

a) Scale of training programs oriented towards research;

b) Scale of master's and doctoral training;

c) Number of training programs in basic sciences and applied basic sciences;

d) Number of doctoral specializations.

2. Structure of training and scientific and technological activities

a) Total income from training activities, from scientific and technological activities; annual budget funding from the state (if applicable);

b) Annual cost per student (hereinafter referred to as unit cost);

c) Number of full-time faculty and researchers participating in scientific research with published articles and works in domestic and international specialized scientific journals annually;

d) Number of basic science research centers, applied basic science research centers; number of affiliated research institutes, laboratories, and technology development centers;

đ) Number of full-time faculty and researchers with doctoral degrees;

e) Number of full-time faculty and researchers holding Professor and Associate Professor titles;

g) Average number of doctoral candidates successfully defending their dissertations and receiving doctoral degrees annually.

3. Training and scientific research quality

a) Number of articles and works published in international scientific journals listed in the ISI and Scopus databases annually;

b) Number of granted patents annually;

c) Number of university faculty and students (including alumni) awarded national and international awards for training and scientific research annually;

d) Proportion of graduates finding employment in their field of study within 12 months after graduation;

đ) Number of students and faculty participating in joint training and scientific research programs with foreign higher education institutions annually.

4. Quality assurance assessment results

a) Number of research-oriented training programs accredited and recognized by regional and international educational quality assurance organizations;

b) Number of training programs accredited and recognized by domestic educational quality assurance organizations;

c) Degree of compliance with quality assurance criteria for higher education institutions.

Article 8. Criteria for ranking higher education institutions oriented towards application

1. Scale, fields, and levels of training

a) The scale of training programs oriented towards application;

b) The number of training fields oriented towards application;

c) The number of master's applied training specialties.

2. Structure of training and scientific and technological activities

a) Total income from training activities, from scientific and technological activities; annual budget funding from the state (if applicable);

b) Unit cost;

c) The number of full-time lecturers and researchers who participate in scientific research with results applied to reality and published in domestic and international specialized scientific journals annually;

d) The number of applied research bases, experimental production facilities, technology incubation centers;

đ) The number of full-time lecturers and researchers with doctoral degrees;

e) The number of full-time lecturers and researchers holding Professor and Associate Professor titles;

g) The student-to-full-time lecturer ratio.

3. Training and scientific research quality

a) The number of works applied to reality; the number of articles published in national and international specialized scientific journals annually;

b) The number of granted patents, utility models, copyrights, trademarks annually;

c) The number of lecturers and students (including alumni) of the institution receiving national and international awards for teaching and scientific research annually;

d) Proportion of graduates finding employment in their field of study within 12 months after graduation;

đ) Number of students and faculty participating in joint training and scientific research programs with foreign higher education institutions annually.

4. Quality assurance assessment results

a) The number of training programs organized for quality assurance assessments recognized both domestically and internationally;

b) The level of achievement of higher education institution quality assurance criteria.

Article 9. Criteria for ranking higher education institutions oriented towards practice

1. Scale, fields, and levels of training

a) The total scale of training at the higher education institution;

b) The number of students trained according to orders from agencies, organizations, and businesses;

c) The number of training programs collaborating with businesses.

2. Structure of training activities and science and technology

a) Total income from training activities, from scientific and technological activities; annual budget funding from the state (if applicable);

b) Unit cost;

c) The number of full-time lecturers and researchers participating in practical activities at agencies, organizations, and businesses or having articles published in specialized journals annually;

d) The number of full-time lecturers and researchers with doctoral degrees or awarded state honors for significant contributions to their profession;

đ) The number of workshops, experimental production facilities, product development centers;

e) The ratio of visiting lecturers who are experts, entrepreneurs, artisans, technical staff, managers with experience from agencies, organizations, businesses, and production facilities both domestically and internationally participating in teaching annually;

g) The student-to-full-time lecturer ratio.

3. Training and scientific research quality

a) The number of granted patents, utility models, copyrights, trademarks annually;

b) The number of articles published in science and technology journals, the number of works applied to practice annually;

c) The number of lecturers and students (including alumni) of the institution receiving awards for professional activities annually;

d) Proportion of graduates finding employment in their field of study within 12 months after graduation;

đ) Number of students and faculty participating in joint training and scientific research programs with foreign higher education institutions annually.

4. Quality assurance assessment results

a) The number of training programs organized for quality assurance assessments recognized and certified;

b) The level of achievement of higher education institution quality assurance criteria.

Chapter IV

CONDITIONS, CYCLE, PROCEDURE, AND REGULATIONS FOR CLASSIFICATION AND RANKING OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Article 10. Conditions for Recognition of Classification

1. Having been quality assured and still valid by a quality assurance organization recognized by the Ministry of Education and Training.

2. Having been externally classified and ranked and proposed for recognition of classification.

3. Meeting at least 75% of the indicators of the corresponding classification criteria stipulated in Chapter 2 of this Decree, with each criterion having at least one indicator meeting the requirements.

Article 11. Cycle for stratification and ranking of higher education institutions

1. Stratification of higher education institutions shall be carried out on a ten-year cycle.

2. Ranking of higher education institutions shall be carried out on a two-year cycle.

Article 12. Procedures and formalities for stratification and ranking of higher education institutions

1. Higher education institutions shall conduct self-assessment according to the stratification and ranking standards set forth in Chapters II and III of this Decree and the implementation guidelines of the Decree issued by the Ministry of Education and Training; prepare a self-assessment report and publish it on the institution's information website.

2. Higher education institutions shall register with the organization responsible for stratification and ranking of higher education institutions as specified in point c, Clause 1, Article 13 of this Decree to implement stratification and ranking.

3. The organization responsible for stratification and ranking of higher education institutions shall conduct external evaluations of higher education institutions, report the results of stratification and ranking of higher education institutions to the Ministry of Education and Training in accordance with the cycles stipulated in Article 11 of this Decree.

4. The Ministry of Education and Training shall review the reports of the organization responsible for stratification and ranking of higher education institutions and submit them to the Prime Minister for recognition.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 13. Responsibility for Implementation

1. The Ministry of Education and Training shall be responsible for:

a) Providing detailed guidance on the implementation of this Decree and inspecting and supervising the implementation by higher education institutions;

b) Providing guidance on how to score each indicator according to the ranking criteria for higher education institutions as prescribed in this Decree;

c) Selecting educational quality assurance organizations with competence, experience, and credibility to assign tasks related to stratification and ranking of higher education institutions;

d) Cooperating with relevant ministries and sectors to develop legal documents, mechanisms, and policies for state management based on the results of stratification and ranking of higher education institutions to issue or submit to competent authorities for issuance.

2. Ministries, sectors, and localities directly managing higher education institutions shall cooperate with the Ministry of Education and Training to inspect and supervise the implementation of stratification and ranking activities of higher education institutions.

Article 14. Effective Date

This Decree shall take effect from October 25, 2015.

2. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees directly under the central government shall be responsible for enforcing this Decree./.