Even though the Ministry of Education and Training has agreed to let universities hold their own entrance exams next year, many universities expressed reluctance.

Around 17 private universities have submitted their enrollment plans to the ministry. The Deputy Minister of Education and Training, Bui Van Ga, said, "Public schools are reluctant because they don't lack students, yet they will face certain risks by holding independent exams."

The Deputy head of Hanoi School of Business and Technology, said, "Universities will have to shoulder huge cost. In addition, the results of those exams aren't valid for every college and university, it can only be used for the schools that have agreed on the same plans. It's a high risk."

Some people worried about adverse impacts, such as some universities setting lower standards to increase revenue.

Among public schools, only Vietnam National University of Hanoi has tried to pilot this programme on small-scale. Bui Duc Hien,from Electric Power University, said they would face huge disadvantages because students did not fully support this programme.

Head of Hoa Binh University, Dang Ung Van, also said, "Universities still have no idea about the number of students who will participate in their exams and it's possible that many of them won't enroll. Normally, only students with weak abilities enroll into private universities."

Recently, private universities have been complaining that, with the same scores from national university entrance exam, administrated by the Ministry of Education and Training, students are likely to choose the schools that are cheaper. Several experts said they should be allowed to recruit students who have lower scores than required.

Many think that the ministry agreed to this programme because it wants to help private universities who are failing to recruit. Ga said, "The laws on higher education states that universities must independently build their enrollment plans, so we're also changing the recruitment methods."