Tuition hikes likely for international students, may come to twice that of domestic students

Many international students and graduate school students are expecting tuition hikes for the 2026 academic year, with student councils attempting to fight increases and decisions for domestic undergraduate tuition still pending.

Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin talks to university student council presidents on Dec. 30, 2025 to discuss how students feel about tuition increases. The Education Minister met with students again on Jan. 13 to hear updates on how tuition deliberation committees are operating at each university. [YONHAP]

Many international students and graduate school students are expecting tuition hikes for the 2026 academic year, with student councils attempting to fight increases and decisions for domestic undergraduate tuition still pending.

Yonsei University decided via its tuition deliberation committee on Jan. 7 to increase tuition for international undergraduate students by 6 percent, while deciding on a 3.19 percent increase for international students who are part of the Underwood International College.

While tuition for domestic undergraduate students and graduate school students hasn't been decided yet, the university proposed a 3.19 percent increase for both, according to the general student council.

The proposed 3.19 percent increase matches the tuition increase cap for the 2026 academic year, set by the Ministry of Education. Under the Higher Education Act, tuition for domestic students can only increase by up to 1.2 times the average consumer price increase over the past three years.

Yonsei University is one of many schools that plans to hike tuition for international students.

Ewha Womans University decided via its tuition deliberation committee meeting, with minutes announced on Thursday, that tuition for international undergraduate and graduate students will rise by 7 percent. Tuition for domestic students enrolled in its graduate schools will rise by 3 percent.

Kyung Hee University decided via its tuition deliberation committee meeting that it would raise tuition for undergraduate international students by 5 percent.

For its general graduate schools, domestic students will see a 3 percent tuition increase and international students will see a 5 percent increase.

Tuition increases at professional graduate schools will differ depending on the program. Most programs such as those at the Graduate School of Education, Graduate School of East-West Medical Science and its Law School will increase tuition by 3 percent. A 5 percent increase will be implemented for the Chinese MBA program.

However, tuition for programs such as those at the Graduate School of Business, Graduate School of Technology and Management and Department of United Nations and the Art of Peace will remain the same.

Sungkyunkwan University will be raising tuition for both international undergraduates and graduate school students by 6 percent. Hanyang University will raise tuition for international undergraduates and graduate school students by 5 percent.

Sogang University will increase international undergraduate tuition by 7 percent, while domestic undergraduate tuition will be decided during further meetings.

For its graduate schools, those offering humanities and social sciences programs will see a 1.6 percent increase in school fees. Tuition for the Law School will rise by 3.2 percent, the Graduate School of Virtual Convergence's tuition will be frozen and other graduate programs will see a 2.1 percent increase.

One of the universities that may show the biggest increase for international students is Korea University.

While the university hasn't decided on tuition yet, university officials on the tuition deliberation committee proposed an 11 percent increase for international undergraduate students and a 3.19 percent increase for domestic undergraduate students.

Aiming to incorporate student opinions into the deliberation process, the university's student council held a survey up until Sunday about whether students were for or against the increase. Survey results will be shared during the upcoming deliberation committee meeting, set for Thursday.

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies also hasn't finalized tuition, but the university proposed a 3.19 percent increase for all students, which includes international and domestic students at both undergraduate and graduate levels. The university student council also collected student opinions through a survey until Monday, and is set to present results during upcoming tuition deliberation committee meetings scheduled for the third and fourth week of January.

Tuition is unsurprisingly one of the most important factors for students. Choi Kyo-jin, minister of education, met with university student council presidents on Tuesday to hear student opinions on each university’s tuition deliberation committee and promised to support students.

“We will closely examine how tuition deliberation committees are being operated and ensure that support for students continues to be strengthened,” said Education Minister Choi.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]