The above information was provided by Prof. Dr. Nguyen Tien Thao - Director of the Higher Education Department - Ministry of Education and Training on the afternoon of July 15.
Statistics on university admission registration results in 2026 show that 467,590 candidates registered for STEM majors, accounting for about 53.4% of the total number of candidates registered for admission. The total number of aspirations for STEM is 2,368,179, accounting for nearly 33% of the total number of aspirations.
There are 154,016 candidates registered for the Computer and Information Technology field with more than 415,000 aspirations. Thus, nearly 18% of the total number of candidates registered for admission have at least one choice in this field.
For the field of Natural Sciences, there are more than 43,700 registered candidates, with 63,800 aspirations.
For 15 groups of basic science, key techniques and strategic technology under Decree No. 179/2026/ND-CP, there are 331,693 registered candidates, equivalent to nearly 38% of the total number of registered candidates for admission.
The total number of aspirations for these industry groups is 1,291,839, accounting for about 18% of the total number of aspirations.
Thus, more than half of the candidates registered for admission this year have at least one choice belonging to STEM; more than one-third have choices belonging to 15 industry groups identified by the State as needing priority development.
Mr. Thao acknowledged that scholarship policies, student support; career prospects; human resource needs and career guidance have contributed to creating more motivation for choice. However, the number of new registrations reflects the initial level of interest.
The shift only becomes a substantial result when it is reflected in enrollment numbers, input quality, academic maintenance rates, graduation results and the ability to meet human resource needs" - Mr. Thao said, while noting that the data groups intersect.
Analyzing and clarifying, Mr. Thao gave an example, a candidate registering for a major under Decree No. 179/2026/ND-CP can be simultaneously included in the STEM group and in a specific training field.
Therefore, these data groups should not be mechanically added to form a total number of new candidates" - Mr. Thao assessed.
However, according to Mr. Thao, in the fields of STEM, Computers and Information Technology, along with Natural Science, there are noteworthy signs associated with the trend of artificial intelligence development.
This is a noteworthy sign because natural science, along with mathematics, statistics and engineering, creates a foundation for the development of artificial intelligence, semiconductors, new materials, energy, biotechnology and many other strategic technologies" - Mr. Thao shared.
According to the plan, from July 15, candidates will begin to pay fees. To avoid overload, the Ministry of Education and Training divides the payment schedule for university admission fees in 34 provinces and cities according to 6 time milestones.
Mr. Thao noted that online fee payment is the step to complete admission registration for aspirations subject to fee payment. Therefore, the requirement is to ensure that each transaction is recorded fully, accurately, and promptly, without allowing technical incidents to affect the admission rights of candidates.
