Every morning, Vi wakes up to the mist of Lac Duong, a district in Lam Dong Province, in the highlands of Vietnam.
After breakfast and coffee, Vi and her father go to their flower farm to start work.
Vi’s father grows flowers to sell to distributors, both locally and nationally. Vi, the daughter, handles branding, and advertising, and acts as the face of the business TikTok, where her channel has over 117,000 followers.
Vi is what the local Vietnamese call “a farm girl,” but this farm girl is not like the previous generation.
She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from RMIT and later earned a master’s in International Business. Instead of staying in Saigon or going abroad, Vi chose to return to her hometown to grow her family’s flower business.
“The flower business is tough,” Vi says as she walks around her flower farm. “Flower prices fluctuate constantly. But that’s also what makes this job so rewarding.”
The knowledge she gained from RMIT, both in Australia and Vietnam, has helped her a lot in this tough business.
“RMIT don’t just teach theory, students learn through case studies and from the lecturers’ real-world experience,” she recalls.
“Anyone can grow flowers, but building a brand takes a lot of skills, cultural knowledge, and business skills,” she adds.
Australia has long been one of the top destinations for Vietnamese students. In 2024 alone, over 37,000 Vietnamese students study and live here. From Melbourne, and Sydney to Saigon, Australian education is leaving a big impact on Vietnam’s growing economy.
One of the most popular TV shows in Vietnam is ‘Shark Tank Vietnam.’ Just like the U.S. or Australian versions, entrepreneurs present their ideas to a panel of successful investors.
In a few recent seasons, Minh Beta, an alumnus of the University of Sydney, has made a strong impression on both young and older viewers.
After graduating with a degree in economics, Minh worked for a few years in Singapore before returning to Vietnam and founded Beta Cinema, a budget cinema chain.
He is considered to be one of the most well-known Vietnamese alumni of the University of Sydney in Vietnam.
In an interview, Minh recalled struggling in his first year because lecturers spoke so fast. He struggled with his Chinese classmates. But by the second year, he felt at home.
The impact of Australian education isn’t just shown in the private sector, it’s also having an impact in the public sector.
Thao, a former master’s student at RMIT Melbourne, studied Criminology. After graduating in 2024, she returned to Hanoi to continue her work at the Ministry of Public Security.
Thao shared: “The program was intense, but I had the chance to study with other international students and travel to different cities.”
She is now working as an investigator, cooperating with local and international colleagues. When asked whether she thinks the degree was worth it, she replied:
“I received an Australian government scholarship. The master’s program helped me a lot in my reasoning skills as well as daily work.”
She adds, “Many of my colleagues graduated from Australia or the U.S. I miss Australia and hope to return to Melbourne in the future.”
However, not everyone has the same experience or agrees with such views.
Australian university tuition fees are ridiculously high, and the quality often falls short of expectations.
On forums like Reddit, students frequently complain about tuition costs, the overwhelming number of international students, and poor English proficiency among their peers.
Here are a few typical comments:
- “I really don’t understand how some students can even study here.”
- “I’m paying $40,000 a year, but there are only a few Australian students in my class. The rest are all international.”
- “Australian universities treat us like cash cows.”
These complaints aren’t baseless. Even Australian media has also highlighted the issue. Consider the following headlines:
- “‘Cash cow’: Aussie student exposes huge university problem” — News.com.au
- “International students left feeling like ‘cash cows’” — The Guardian
- “From Malaysia’s press: “Cash over class: Aussie unis slammed for low standards, award degrees to students with poor English skills.”
Some students also admit that in their classes, domestic students are the minority. In some classes, you only hear Mandarin spoken because most students are from China.
So, is an Australian education really worth the price? It’s hard to say, everyone’s experience is different.
But one thing is undeniable: Australia remains a magnet in attracting international students, and its education system continues to positively influence developing countries, such as Vietnam.
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