Foreign universities' Korean campuses see spike in enrollment and employment rate

[ Provided by IGC ]

More than 80 percent of graduates from the Korean campuses of five foreign universities in the Incheon Global Campus (IGC) have landed jobs soon after graduation to underscore the success of the establishments in just about a decade.

According to the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) and the IGC foundation on Sunday, the combined student quota of five foreign universities’ communal schools in the IGC campus amounted to 4,429, with 3,712 students enrolled for the fall semester of this year. Foreign students numbered 316 or 8.5 percent of the total.

The five schools in the IGC are The State University of New York (SUNY) Korea Stony Brook, the first communal campus of a foreign university opening in the IGC, Songdo, Incheon, in 2012; George Mason University Korea; Ghent University Global Campus; The University of Utah Asia Campus; and the SUNY Korea Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT).

The SUNY Stony Brook saw its enrollment rise to 90.3 percent in the autumn semester this year from 5.6 percent in 2012. The FIT’s enrollment is at 113.3 percent, George Mason at 70.6 percent, Ghent at 79.6 percent, and Utah at 89.2 percent.

The enrollment increased in line with success rate of employment of graduates.

Employment ratio of graduates from the SUNY Stony Brook was 80.5 percent on average, with George mason at 82.3 percent, Ghent at 91.7 percent, and Utah at 86.5 percent. Their average employment rate of graduates last year was 80 percent, 16 percentage points higher than domestic universities.

“Their strengths are in affordable tuition levels at 25 million won ($17,460) even though they offer the identical curriculum with their main schools, and excellent faculty,” said an official from the IGC foundation.

In fact, 166 of 270 professors in the IGC are from their main schools.

The IFEZ and Incheon City created the international campus for Incheon’s globalization and foreign residents’ convenience. The five universities have seen their enrollment and employment rates grow annually since they joined the campus in 2017.

As many global bio firms, such as Samsung Biologics, Celltrion, and Boehringer Ingelheim, are also located in Songdo, there is synergy for biotechnology majors in those schools.

The IGC plans to attract five more schools from the 100 top global universities to make the IGC an international education hub, according to an official from the foundation.

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