Legal Consciousness among University Students in Ho Chi Minh City: Findings and Educational Responses at Hung Vuong University of Ho Chi Minh City

Abstract : Legal consciousness shapes how university students understand legal norms, evaluate official institutions, and act when rules affect their daily lives. This study examined legal consciousness among full-time students at Hung Vuong University of Ho Chi Minh City and identified educational responses suitable for an applied, multidisciplinary university. A descriptive case-study design combined documentary analysis, a questionnaire administered to 500 students from the 2021-2025 cohorts, and purposive interviews with selected students, lecturers, and staff. Questionnaire data were analysed using descriptive percentages across legal knowledge, legal emotions and trust, compliance motivation, reported conduct, and responses to rights violations. The findings show an uneven pattern. Students understood traffic rules better than labour, intellectual-property, and digital-law issues, while social media had become their main source of legal information. Most respondents condemned serious violence and online fraud, but many treated academic dishonesty and minor traffic violations as ordinary conduct. Compliance was also driven more often by fear of sanctions than by internalised legal obligation. When their own rights were infringed, many students preferred silence, informal intervention, or public complaints on social media to formal legal remedies. The study concludes that legal education should move beyond rule transmission. Universities should integrate practical legal problems into curricula, use experiential and digital methods, coordinate with legal institutions and families, and develop students’ capacity to verify information, seek lawful remedies, and regulate their own conduct.