The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) launched a $14.2-million partnership Monday with three leading Vietnamese universities to strengthen higher education.

The Partnership for Higher Education Reform project will be carried out in five years to have Indiana University work with three Vietnamese universities, Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam National University - Hanoi, and the University of Da Nang to improve their academic quality, enhance institutional governance, and enable them to serve as models of modern higher education across Vietnam.

Funded by USAID, the project will collaborate with the World Bank and key government officials from the ministries of Education and Training, Finance, Planning and Investment, and Science and Technology, and industry partners, including Purdue University, Amazon Web Services, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, to "benefit more than 200,000 students and equip them to thrive in an increasingly competitive global market," the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City said in a press release.

The partnership will work to achieve three objectives for the three universities: increase sustainability and autonomy; improve academic quality; and strengthen research and innovation capacity.

Core activities will strengthen university governance and financial systems, provide faculty training, and research collaborations, and develop guidelines and incentives for further partnerships between universities and private companies.

"Through this partnership, together, we will collectively improve the quality and market-relevance of higher education to drive lasting growth," U.S. Ambassador Marc Knapper said at the event to launch the project in Hanoi.

The project was announced by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris during her visit to Vietnam last September.

Source: VNE