Korean universities plan tuition hikes, programs for 2025

According to a survey conducted by the Korean Council of University Education on 102 university presidents, announced Tuesday, 46.1 percent of the respondents said they plan to raise tuition for domestic undergraduates in 2025 or later.

University presidents attend a conference hosted by the Korean Council of University Education on Jan. 31. The council conducted a survey about universities' plans to raise tuition and increase the number of undecided major students during the conference. [NEWS1]

Many universities are planning tuition increases and more programs for undecided majors for 2025.

According to a survey conducted by the Korean Council of University Education on 102 university presidents, announced Tuesday, 46.1 percent of the respondents said they plan to raise tuition for domestic undergraduates in the 2025 academic year or later.

Another 27.4 percent said they have no plans to raise tuition yet.

Although an increase in tuition for domestic undergrads could be bad news to some, it could mean tuition freezes for others.

Universities can implement a tuition hike for domestic undergrads within the cap given by the Ministry of Education, which is 5.64 percent this year.

However, the government's national scholarship funding, which is only offered to universities that freeze their domestic undergrad tuition, has been preventing universities from raising their prices. As universities were forced to earn revenue from other channels, tuitions for graduate students and international students were subject to frequent hikes.

Chosun University is one university that went against the ongoing trend, raising its domestic undergraduate tuition by 4.9 percent for 2024 — the university's first increase in 15 years.

"Majors that get a lot of government funding on their own are able to continue to enhance the quality of education and learning environment, but students in other majors have to use lab tables that were from some 10 years ago and other old equipment," Chosun University President Kim Chun-sung said.

Another change that could come is an increase in the quota for undecided majors.

In the same Korean Council of University Education survey, 41.2 percent of the respondents said they will increase the number of undecided major students in 2025.

Another 30.4 percent said they don't currently have plans to do so, but will if more government funding is given.

Another 20.6 percent that said they don't have plans to do so at all, while 3.9 percent said they will do so in 2026, and 1 percent said they will in 2027.

The Education Ministry announced it will offer funding of 441 billion won ($332 million) to private universities and 342.6 billion won to national universities that make new innovations this year. Improving the academic system and offering more learning opportunities are some of the evaluation criteria, but a larger number of undecided major students is one area from which universities can get additional points.

Although many universities are willing to increase their undecided major students, many were also opposed to the fact that the government can influence university policies.

When asked what they thought about the government's goal to have universities admit 25 percent of the student quota as undecided majors, 46.1 percent said they are against the government giving them any sort of goal that needs to be met.

Another 22.5 percent said the goal was too high, while 18.6 percent said the goal is appropriate. A total of 11.8 percent said the goal could be higher.

BY CHOI MIN-JI, LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]