From October 1, 2026, Decree 317/2026/ND-CP regulating the organization, management and use of the National Scholarship Fund officially takes effect.
Accordingly, the National Scholarship Fund is an off-budget state financial fund, directly under the Ministry of Education and Training, with the task of mobilizing, receiving, managing and using resources to grant scholarships and support learners.
Who can receive scholarships?
The Fund organizes 5 groups of scholarship programs including: talent scholarships; scholarships for learners studying abroad; scholarships under international treaties of which Vietnam is a member; scholarships to attract foreigners to study and research in Vietnam; scholarships to create development opportunities.
For Vietnamese students, the talent scholarship and development opportunity scholarship programs are noteworthy.
Talent scholarships are aimed at learners of talent programs, people with outstanding achievements, talents, outstanding abilities or special development potential in learning, research, science, technology, innovation, entrepreneurship, professional skills development and other priority fields.
Scholarship consideration subjects are not only based on scores. Achievements, capacity, development potential, academic results, research, training, scientific and technological products, innovation, awards, professional skills or criteria suitable for each program can all be considered.
Ensuring fairness, publicity, and transparency
The Minister of Education and Training will approve each program, and at the same time stipulate the subjects, conditions, criteria for selection, priority policies, support framework and disbursement methods. The selection must ensure fairness, publicity, transparency and have a comparison mechanism between candidates.
Students who are awarded scholarships from the Fund can still enjoy scholarships and other support policies as prescribed. However, it is necessary to ensure the principle of not awarding duplicate scholarships from the state budget for the same expenditure content in the same period, unless otherwise provided by law.
Thus, from October 1st, students with outstanding achievements, capacity or potential in priority areas will have more opportunities to access national scholarships. However, learners need to follow the announcements of the Ministry of Education and Training and specific scholarship programs to know exactly the conditions, dossiers and support levels applicable to each case.
