Don't let financial constraints hinder you from studying at Fulbright
“If you grow up in a family with sufficient financial resources, you already have a good foundation. You can afford extra classes, invest in English skills from a young age, and use technological advantages to make learning more convenient. There is no doubt that these students may be more competitive for scholarships based on academic achievement than students living in remote areas who don’t have the same privileges. Through a combination of financial aid and talent- based scholarships Fulbright wants to provide everyone equal access to education. We wish to avoid increasing the gap between opportunities given to students of different economic backgrounds. We do not want to exacerbate those differences. ” shared Ms. Le Thi Quynh Tram, Fulbright’s Chief of Marketing and Communications.
Pursuing equality in educational opportunity, Fulbright is the first university in Vietnam to offer need-based financial aid to students who meet the admissions standards. An admitted student is awarded Financial Aid solely based on a family’s financial circumstances. This need-based financial aid package covers not only tuition fees but also living expenses without requiring any repayment.
We believe that education must be accessible to students of all socio-economic backgrounds. The journey to ensure equality in education is still a long road ahead, but it should not deter us from taking the first step.
Philosophy of Financial Aid
We strive to create equal education opportunities as well as bring together a diverse student body through our need-based financial aid program.
At the same time, we also believe that families are primarily responsible for the costs of their children’s education by carefully considering and accessing all available financial resources to calculate their contribution to the student’s education when preparing the application for financial aid.
Fulbright’s Financial Aid Package Award Policy
Fulbright’s need-based financial aid packages are solely awarded based on a family’s financial circumstances once a student has met our rigorous admissions standards. Fulbright also operates our need-based financial aid program within our available funds.
This means that every VND of financial aid offered to an applicant is one VND of financial aid not offered to another applicant. If at any time — including even after the applicant has enrolled at Fulbright — we find that an applicant has misrepresented their family’s financial circumstances, we will rescind the applicant’s financial aid package and admission to Fulbright. Fulbright may, on occasion, follow-up with families which applied for financial aid or check-in with students to support reapplication for need-based financial aid. The full financial aid application can be found on our online application portal here. Our need-based financial aid program can only be successful if applicants are honest and transparent about their financial circumstances. Finally, we expect all students who receive financial aid to participate enthusiastically in campus life at Fulbright, including maintaining a baseline level of academic performance and upholding Fulbright’s Code of Conduct. In addition, once students have enrolled at Fulbright, we will encourage them to publicly share their Fulbright experience, including the impact that Fulbright’s financial aid program has had in helping them pursue an education at Fulbright University Vietnam.
To best understand a family’s financial circumstances, Fulbright has all applicants submit a need-based financial aid application. Fulbright will carefully review and verify your financial aid application and may request an interview with the family if we need further information.
All information and documents a family submit to Fulbright is kept confidential and is shared only between the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid and the family and is not shared with any third-party.
Eligibilities to apply for Financial Aid
Fulbright’s financial aid is solely for Vietnamese nationals who have proof of citizenship and apply to Fulbright’s undergraduate programs. Applicants applying to short-term programs that do not confer a Bachelor’s degree are ineligible for financial aid.
If students and their families do require need-based financial aid to attend Fulbright, they will be required to submit the financial aid application in full.
If students and their families can pay for tuition and housing fees full for all 4 years of their time at Fulbright, they are asked to declare that in writing through the Financial Aid Opt-Out form.
Fulbright covers full or partial tuition fee of more than 60% of students through the financial aid program.
Financial Assistance review process
Fulbright’s financial aid application process consists two rounds: application round and interview round.
Our financial aid staff starts analyzing financial aid applications after applications close. We may contact applicants’ familities to collect additional information about income, expenses, savings and investments. Meanwhile, our admissions staff begins reading admissions applications. In accordance with our holistic admissions, there is no single criteria that precludes a student from being considered. This means that a student’s financial circumstances are not taken into consideration during the application reading stage and do not affect the student’s ability to attend the interview rounds. Applications are considered purely on the content and quality of what is submitted.
We begin looking at a student’s financial aid application after being notified of the results of the application round. We may get in touch with applicants’ families to learn more about their income, expenses, savings, investments and etc. of the family.
We distribute aid needed to families based on what we learn from their application and interview, meeting the need of as many families as possible until all available aid is distributed.
In addition to students who are admitted and awarded aid, we have an admissions waitlist. When a student who is admitted declines our offer, the aid they received (if any) will return to our available funds, and we will be able to redistribute aid to students on our waitlist.
Questions about issues related to the financial aid program can be found in the Frequent Asked Questions page.
