What Does LHU Do to Help Students Start a Business from the Lecture Hall?.

Entrepreneurship is currently receiving strong interest from students even while they are still studying at university. Business ideas originate from passion and aspiration, under the guidance of lecturers and with the companionship of peers, gradually forming start-ups. Starting a business from the university lecture hall has become a trend among many Vietnamese students, especially since the implementation of the Project on Supporting Students’ Entrepreneurship to 2025 (Project 1665), which has significantly boosted the student entrepreneurship movement. Accordingly, hundreds of student startup ideas have moved beyond campus gates into real life, with initial results suggesting appropriate development directions.

At the talk show titled “Entrepreneurship from the Lecture Hall” organized by Dong Nai Television, Lac Hong University was honored to have PhD Nguyen Van Tan – Dean of FAIE – and a representative from Dong Nai University engage in an in-depth discussion on the program’s topic.

According to the report recorded by Dong Nai Television: Lac Hong University is one of the pioneering institutions in the entrepreneurship movement of Dong Nai Province. The University established and put into operation its Startup Club, which has brought the University commendable achievements at national startup competitions, Southern regional startup competitions, and Dong Nai Provincial innovative startup competitions. Beyond competitions, many projects have been implemented in practice and have generated revenue, building their own brands under the guidance of reputable lecturers and entrepreneurs from the Southern Startup Advisory and Support Council.

Specifically, Lac Hong University not only encourages students to participate in startup programs within the University but also expands participation to provincial, regional, and national competitions, most recently including awards organized by the Ministry of Education and Training. With this orientation, some notable achievements of the University in recent years include:

• First Prize – National Startup Competition 2006

• Second Prize – National Startup Competition organized by VCCI in 2017

• First Prize and Third Prize – Southern Regional Startup Competition 2017

• Two First Prizes in consecutive years (2020 and 2021) at the Dong Nai Women’s Entrepreneurship Competition, awarded to two alumni of the University

• First Prize – Dong Nai Provincial Innovative Startup Competition 2019

• Second Prize – Startup Competition organized by the Ministry of Education and Training 2022

Providing further details on the operational approach and the journey of building the startup ecosystem at Lac Hong University, PhD Nguyen Van Tan stated: “The ultimate goal of students is to graduate with employment and career opportunities. Entrepreneurship provides a different mindset—being self-directed. It is no longer a mindset of working for others but operating one’s own project. For example, the First Prize winner in 2006, Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Anh Thu, continues to maintain her project to this day. Regarding the five students who won First Prize in 2017, although they did not maintain their original project, each of them has developed and continues with their own new projects, which is a positive signal after graduation. An alumnus who won First Prize at the Dong Nai Provincial Innovative Startup Competition 2019 is currently running his own enterprise. Another alumnus, although directly recruited by the Viettel Aerospace Institute, still maintains an entrepreneurial spirit and aspires to be self-employed. This provides students with better prospects through preparation during their university years.”

“To build a startup ecosystem at the University, Lac Hong University integrated entrepreneurship into its curriculum from the outset, implementing Project 1665 so that all students study entrepreneurship. At LHU, entrepreneurship-related content is divided into three specialized courses for in-depth training. To establish a startup ecosystem within the University, a co-working space is essential. The University has boldly invested in a co-working space to incubate projects, organize talk shows with enterprises to share skills, and display student products. To operate this space, the University has connected with the Southern Startup Advisory and Support Council, the National Startup Advisory Council, and the British Council for social enterprise entrepreneurship programs. Notably, the University established the Startup Club at an early stage, serving as the hub for all entrepreneurship-related activities.”

In addition, support policies for students engaging in entrepreneurship play a significant role, including special consideration in graduation scoring and commendations in the form of certificates or in-kind rewards, in order to encourage students and help them balance academic requirements with the development and implementation of their own startup projects.

It is hoped that with this solid foundation and remarkable achievements, along with new policies in the future, Lac Hong University will continue to achieve further milestones, with LHU students as the primary beneficiaries.