Vietnam's Semiconductor Programs Are Oversubscribed. Admission Scores Now Rival Medical School.
Hanoi University of Science and Technology's semiconductor design program requires 28.07 out of 30 for admission. Hanoi Medical University's medical program requires 28.13. Nearly identical.
Vietnamese universities use national high school exam scores for admissions. Each program specifies a three-subject combination, each scored out of 10, for a maximum of 30 points.
Semiconductor programs typically require math, physics, and chemistry.
At top universities, semiconductor design programs hit admission scores of 28 to 29 in 2025. That means averaging above 9.3 per subject, virtually the same threshold as medical school.
How Hot Is It
Applications for semiconductor programs jumped 30 to 40% year on year.
The Ministry of Education even created a special math score threshold for the field, requiring applicants to rank in the top 20% nationally in math. This was a first in Vietnamese university admissions.
Still Expanding in 2026
The heat shows no sign of fading.
From Da Nang to Can Tho to Hanoi, multiple universities launched semiconductor programs for the first time in 2026, covering IC design, packaging and testing, and semiconductor materials.
As of mid-2025, more than 70 standardized undergraduate and master's-level microelectronics curricula had been established nationwide.
Vietnam National University HCMC offers 50 to 100% tuition scholarships for its microelectronics design program.
The Talent Gap Remains Huge
Universities are expanding aggressively because industry demand is far from being met.
According to Vietnam's Ministry of Education, the country currently has about 15,000 semiconductor workers. The government's target is 50,000 by 2030, meaning roughly 35,000 more need to be trained in five years.
In January this year, Viettel broke ground on Vietnam's first chip fabrication facility at Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park, with completion expected in 2027.
A domestic chip fab will only increase demand for packaging, testing, and materials talent.
The Pay Is Genuinely Better
Students are rushing in because the job market rewards are real.
According to Adecco's 2025 salary report, IC design engineers with one to five years of experience earn roughly USD 1,000 to 2,000 per month. With over five years, that range rises to USD 1,800 to 4,000.
For IT engineers with similar experience, salary growth is about half the rate of semiconductor.
Samsung and Intel both operate major facilities in Vietnam, and campus recruitment by these two companies is one of the primary employment channels for semiconductor graduates.
That said, the challenges facing Vietnam's semiconductor education are clear: qualified faculty are scarce, lab equipment cannot keep up, and university-industry collaboration is still being worked out.
The gap between opening a program and producing engineers that industry can actually use is not something enrollment growth alone can close.
