This study examines the difficulties and challenges of programme quality management based on the AUN-QA approach at private universities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. A mixed-methods approach with a cross-sectional design was employed, involving a survey of 146 managerial staff and senior lecturers from four of the 17 private universities. The measurement scale covered 10 areas, including leadership commitment, internal quality assurance, outcome-based education (OBE), resources, evidence and data, quality culture, PDCA implementation, stakeholder engagement, and private-sector constraints, and demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = .95). The results indicate that the most prominent challenges are fostering a quality culture, sustaining leadership commitment, ensuring adequate resources, developing OBE-based programmes, and collecting stakeholder feedback. Resource constraints were the most frequently mentioned concern in the open-ended responses. The findings suggest that effective AUN-QA implementation depends not only on compliance with accreditation standards but also on institutional conditions and a quality culture that support continuous improvement.