Recruit in Viet Nam

This website is intended to serve as a one-stop resource for student recruitment in Vietnam for colleagues from secondary and postsecondary institutions all over the world.  It was inspired by a session that Dr. Mark Ashwill, Capstone managing director and co-founder, chaired at the NAFSA 2017 annual conference in Los Angeles entitled Keys to Successful Non-Commission-Based Recruitment in Vietnam. 

While Vietnam is still primarily an agent-driven market, growing numbers of students are beginning to by-pass education agents and apply directly to educational institutions, especially certain types of institutions and programs.  The reasons for this recent trend are increased access to information, both on- and offline, more confidence, and greater sophistication. 

A sound institutional recruitment strategy should include tools and techniques that do not involve the use of education agents and commission-based recruitment in cooperation with quality and ethical agents.  The Recruit in Viet Nam website focuses exclusively on the former. 

There are many different ways to recruit both digitally and traditionally.  You have to find out what works best for your institution through a process of self-reflection and, sometimes, trial and error.  We are happy to help guide you through this challenging process.  Not every institution that targets Viet Nam as a priority country will be successful but we can help ensure that you are using your time and resources as wisely as possible in order to give you the best chance to succeed. 

There are over 250,000 young Vietnamese studying in around 50 countries and territories. Over 90% are in the top ten host countries, including – in descending order – South Korea, Japan, the USA, Australia, Taiwan, Canada, China, the UK, Germany, and France. Vietnam will continue to be a dynamic and promising recruitment market for increasingly diverse overseas study destinations.

Mark A. Ashwill, Ph.D., Founder & Managing Director

Recruit in Viet Nam

Mark Ashwill is an international education entrepreneur who has lived and worked in Viet Nam since 2005.  Before becoming managing director of Capstone Vietnam, a full-service educational consulting company with offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, he served as country director of the Institute of International Education-Vietnam from 2005-09. 

He was the first US American to be awarded a Fulbright Senior Specialists grant in 2003.  Ashwill is the author of the widely cited Vietnam Today – A Guide to a Nation at a Crossroads, published in 2004 by Intercultural Press, Inc.  He is widely quoted in both the Vietnamese and international media and has written for a variety of publications and online media outlets in Viet Nam, the UK, and the US. 

A Hobsons consultant’s report noted that “The work of Dr. Mark Ashwill, formerly of IIE, and the former US Ambassador, Michael Michalak, helped to promote the United States as a destination for Vietnamese students, and strengthened the ties between the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) and US universities.”

Jeff Browne wrote on his Vietnomics blog that “Much of the credit for the strengthening US-Viet Nam higher education link goes to Hanoi-based educator, Mark Ashwill, director of Capstone Vietnam and key advisor to student-run nonprofit VietAbroader, both of which help Vietnamese students navigate the American education culture.”

For more information about Mark’s background, check out this biographical sketch and this 2017 interview with him entitled Capstone Vietnam: Why This Education Entrepreneur Is Excited About Vietnam’s Future.

Other Staff

Capstone has outstanding and experienced staff in both offices, including managers who have degrees from foreign universities and who have traveled abroad extensively, including Australia, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Singapore, the UK, and the US. 

Ms. Hang Pham, Deputy Director

 

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