The recently opened 'VinUni' is the conglomerate's first private, non-profit university.
Tuoi Tre reports that Vingroup opened VinUni University on Wednesday after 14 months of construction work. VinUni covers 23 hectares of land within the Vinhomes Ocean Park development in Gia Lam District. The opening comes just a few days after Vingroup scrapped another ambitious project, Vinpearl Air.
Thus far, Vingroup has invested US$280.6 million in the university, while the campus features nine buildings and can accommodate 3,500 students. The structure itself is strikingly reminiscent of Moscow State University.
According to the news source, VinUni will initially focus on three majors: business administration, health sciences, and engineering and computer science. Within these majors, eight specific disciplines will be offered: hotel management, business administration, real estate management, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer engineering, medicine, and nursing.
In 2018, Vingroup signed strategic partnership agreements with Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania, two of the United States' top higher education institutions. Accordingly, Cornell will help VinUni with its development strategy and university management system, while also evaluating its initial business and technology graduates.
Penn, meanwhile, will help the university develop its health sciences programs while working with Vinmec, Vingroup's medical company, to create training programs for physicians and clinical residents.
Tuoi Tre notes that VinUni has faced criticism for relying on the prestigious reputations of its American partner universities, instead of building its own image.
To start, VinUni plans to enroll 300 students for the 2020-2021 academic year, while tuition is expected to come in at roughly US$35,000 per year. However, all students will receive a 35% discount on tuition over the school's first five years of operation.
[Top photo via Nguoi Dua Tin]
