This study explores Vietnamese students' engagement to develop intercultural competence (IC) both in-class and out-of-class. The study relies on cultural theories and conceptual frameworks on IC to examine three forms of student engagement in IC in the higher education settings, including cognitive, affective, and behavioral engagement. A total of 236 Vietnamese EFL students were invited to self-reflect and self-rate their current IC levels. Findings suggested that students' cognitive engagement seemed to be weaker than their affective and behavioral engagement. Secondly, both qualitative and quantitative findings also found that the self-rated levels of IC were statistically different between groups of students.