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Nearly 250,000 Vietnamese study abroad. Korea has overtaken Japan, the US hit a record, Australia tightened visas – and why study is often a family's first move.
According to Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training, nearly 250,000 Vietnamese are studying abroad – the highest number on record. The map is shifting fast: South Korea has overtaken Japan as the largest destination, Vietnamese enrolment in the US has hit a new high, and Australia and Canada have tightened visas. For many families, study abroad isn't just about a degree. It's the first step of an international footprint: a bank account, an apartment, sometimes a residence right.
Source: MOET via Vietnam Government News (Sep 2025); Korean Ministry of Education (Apr 2026); IIE Open Doors 2025; Australian Department of Education via Tuoi Tre (Nov 2025)
Many Vietnamese migration stories begin the same way: a child goes abroad to study. Four years of university become a few years of work, then a young family overseas, and slowly the parents back home gain a second place to come and go.
The numbers below show how that path is widening and where it's turning. Wherever possible we use the receiving countries' own data, which tends to be more current and more tightly counted.
Nearly 250,000 Students and a Map in Motion
The ministry says Vietnamese studying abroad rose from more than 200,000 in 2023 to nearly 250,000 in the 2024–25 academic year. About 4,000 are on state-funded scholarships; the rest are mostly self-funded or supported by other scholarships. Put simply, families are paying for most of it themselves.
South Korea is now number one. As of April 2026, Korean universities had 96,834 Vietnamese students, 31.5% of all international students – the first time Vietnamese have outnumbered Chinese there. Korea's "Study Korea 300K" plan targeted 300,000 international students by 2027, and in practice it got there early: 307,464 in April 2026.
These figures don't add up – and shouldn't. Each country counts differently: Korea counts students at higher-education institutions, Japan includes language schools, Canada counts study-permit holders, and the US counts university students plus graduates on post-study work training. Read the chart as a relative ranking, not a sum.
Korea Overtook Japan in Six Years
In 2019 Japan was the larger of the two, with 73,389 Vietnamese students, 23.5% of its international student body. Korea had 37,426. Six years later the order has completely flipped.
Korean universities had 96,834 Vietnamese students – the first time Vietnamese have outnumbered Chinese there.
Vietnamese enrolment in Japan is about 41% below 2019. Japan had 408,069 international students in 2025, up 21.2%, but most of the growth came from Nepal and Myanmar. Vietnam still ranks third with 43,366, up 7.5% on the year – recovering, but far from its old peak.
Korea won with deliberate policy. Its "Study Korea 300K" plan shows a government treating international students as a national priority, and Vietnamese students responded more than any other group. The lesson for families: today's best destination can change when policy changes.
The United States: A Record Twenty-Five Years On
The Institute of International Education (IIE) began tracking Vietnamese students in 2000–01, when there were about 2,000. The number reached 13,100 in 2009–10 and 23,800 in 2019–20, dipped during the pandemic, then set a record of 25,584 in 2024–25.
View data table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 00/01 | 2 |
| 04/05 | 3.7 |
| 09/10 | 13.1 |
| 14/15 | 18.7 |
| 19/20 | 23.8 |
| 22/23 | 21.9 |
| 23/24 | 22.1 |
| 24/25 | 25.6 |
Source: IIE Open Doors, via Vietnam Government News (Nov 2025) and the 2024–2025 Vietnam Fact Sheet
Vietnam is the fifth-largest place of origin for US international students, up 16% in 2024–25. About 63% are undergraduates, 17.3% graduate students and 14.2% on Optional Practical Training (OPT). Vietnamese students contributed more than US$1.1 billion to the US economy.
Business and technology make up nearly half. These are fields with strong odds of staying on to work, and OPT – especially for science, technology, engineering and maths – is the natural bridge from the lecture hall into the US job market.
Today's best study destination can change when policy changes.
Costs Are Rising and Visa Doors Are Narrowing
In Australia, first-time Vietnamese student arrivals fell to just 5,481 in the first nine months of 2025, down 42% year on year, even though total enrolment stayed above 36,000 thanks to continuing students. Canada capped study permits from 2024 and ended its fast-track Student Direct Stream in November 2024. Meanwhile, proof-of-funds thresholds have risen almost everywhere.
| Country | Reference cost | Note |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Average tuition US$31,880 a year (public, out-of-state); US$45,000 (private non-profit) | 2025–26, College Board |
| Australia | Proof of A$29,710 in living costs for 12 months | From 10 May 2024 |
| Canada | Proof of C$22,895 in living costs, excluding tuition | From 1 Sep 2025 |
| United Kingdom | Proof of £1,529 a month in London, £1,171 outside London | Up to 9 months |
| Japan | Standard national-university tuition ¥535,800 a year | Some raising to ¥642,960 from 2026 |
Proof-of-funds isn't the full bill. It's only the floor immigration officials require. Real costs depend on the city, the course and lifestyle, and rent is usually the biggest single item.
A practical strategy for Vietnamese investors
Treat study abroad as a whole-family plan. Choosing a country to study in also means choosing its post-study visa system, its job market and the chances of longer-term residence. Weigh those from the start, not in the final year.
Consider buying instead of renting. Over a three-to-five-year degree, rent adds up to a large sum. An apartment near campus – such as White City Living in London, beside Imperial College's White City campus, or Park Modern in South Melbourne – can be a home during the degree and a rental asset after graduation. Check each country's foreign-ownership rules carefully.
Diversify destinations and currencies. Visa policy moves quickly, as Australia and Canada have shown. A family with children in two countries, or assets in two currencies, depends less on any single government's decisions.
Frequently asked questions
How many Vietnamese students are studying abroad?
According to the Ministry of Education and Training, about 250,000 in 2024–25, the highest on record. Receiving countries' own figures may differ because they count differently.
Which country has the most Vietnamese students?
On receiving-country data, South Korea leads with 96,834 students at higher-education institutions (April 2026), followed by Japan, Australia, the US and Canada.
Does studying abroad lead to the family settling overseas?
Study isn't a migration route in itself. It can open doors to post-study work, but every country sets its own conditions and changes them often. Residence for the whole family usually needs its own pathway.
NAC strategic insight
Nearly 250,000 students abroad means hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese families already have a foothold overseas, whether or not they call it that. Tuition, rent, bank accounts and a child's residence permit are the first pieces of an international footprint. The question is whether a family arranges those pieces on purpose.
NAC helps Vietnamese families link a child's study plan with the household's asset and residence plan: buy or rent, where to hold assets, and which residence route fits if parents want to be close by. If your family is preparing a child for study abroad, book a consultation with NAC.
Sources
- Vietnam Government News — Number of Vietnamese students studying abroad sets record high (2025)
- IIE Open Doors — Vietnam Fact Sheet 2025 (2026)
- JASSO / Study in Japan — Result of International Student Survey in Japan, 2025 (2026)
- IRCC — International Student Program at a glance, November 2024 (2024)
- GOV.UK — Student visa: money (2026)
