SNU or Korea University? It depends on whom you ask.

In a survey asking which university they would recommend to their students or children, teachers and parents chose Seoul National University. But when asked which university graduate they would hire, corporate employers chose a different university.

Korea University students wait in line for employment consultations at a job fair on campus earlier this month. [KOREA UNIVERSITY]

In a recent survey asking which university they would recommend to their students or children, school teachers and parents both chose Seoul National University.

But when asked which university graduate they would likely hire, corporate employers chose Korea University.

The results were part of this year’s JoongAng Ilbo college rankings, which looked at over 50 universities across the nation and ranked them by various criteria.

In a survey conducted by the pollster R&R from Sept. 15 to Oct. 11 of 400 corporate employers, Korea University in Seoul was chosen as the favored university from which they would like to hire.

All top 10 schools were located in Seoul except Pusan National University, which is based in the southeastern port city of Busan.

Korea University was followed by Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Sungkyunkwan University, Sogang University, Chung-Ang University, Hanyang University, Kyung Hee University, Konkuk University and Pusan National University.

When broken down by the size of companies, small and mid-sized companies favored graduates from Korea University the most, followed by Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Sungkyunkwan University and Konkuk University.

Large companies and the financial sector favored graduates from Seoul National University the most, followed by Yonsei University, Korea University and Sungkyunkwan University. The No. 5 position went to Kyung Hee University for large companies and Sogang University for the financial sector.

Parents and school teachers had slightly different preferences.

Their most recommended schools were the same from No. 1 through No. 4 with Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Korea University and Sungkyunkwan University, in that order.

But in terms of the top 10 most recommended schools, parents only chose universities in Seoul, while school teachers included KAIST and Postech, which are outside the capital.

KAIST is in Daejeon and Postech is in Pohang, North Gyeongsang. They both specialize in science and technology.

The surveys were conducted by the same pollster on 400 school teachers and 1,000 parents.

In last year’s JoongAng Ilbo college rankings, three universities in the Incheon-Gyeonggi region made it to the top 20 most recommended schools by parents. This year, however, KAIST was ranked 11th, Postech 13th and Pusan National University 20th.

“Parents seem to think negatively about sending their kids to a university outside the capital,” said Jeong Jong-won from R&R, who oversaw the surveys.

“Teachers, on the other hand, know a lot more about universities [than parents], which is why the survey results turned out different.”

Reputation was one of the four major criteria that the JoongAng Ilbo used to evaluate universities this year. The other three were faculty research, student education and educational environment.

Faculty research was based on how much research funds faculty members attracted, the number of articles they published in international journals, academic citations, authored books and revenues from technology transfers and industrial cooperation, among other factors.

Student education was based on factors including the employment rate and job training opportunities.

The education environment focused on scholarships, dorm availability, international students and faculty as well as exchanges with foreign universities.

Jeonbuk National University in Jeonju, North Jeolla, which ranked seventh on the education environment index, cut tuitions for students from Myanmar and Afghanistan. The University of Seoul, which ranked third on the same index, gave scholarships to students from Myanmar.

Konkuk University came in third in the student education index due in large part to its promotion of entrepreneurship. There were some 80 student entrepreneurs at the school as of last year, the highest figure among all Korean universities. The school currently runs 163 clubs related to starting a business.

Ahn Byeong-se, 24, started his own business using drones to find malfunctioning solar panels after attending a class on drones at Konkuk University. His prototype was built on campus.

Lee Seong-ho, 29, also started his own business, Petoday, while attending Konkuk University after his idea to combine a water bottle, snack bag and waste bag dispenser for dogs won a school entrepreneurship contest. The school provided Lee with office space and allowed him to receive credits while running his business.

Soongsil University in Seoul was among the top universities that offered seed money to students wanting to start a business. Since 2019, all students have been required to take a course on entrepreneurship.

Hanyang University’s Erica campus in Ansan, Gyeonggi, has the highest percentage of students participating in job training programs, which have ultimately helped the school raise its employment rate.

A course run by electronic engineering Prof. Kim Jung-hyun that requires students to solve problems designed by companies is one of the most popular classes on campus because it sometimes leads to job opportunities.

“Toward the end of the course, I often get calls asking about student recommendations for internships,” said Kim. “It’s a great opportunity for both the students and the company.”

Yonsei University was found to have attracted the most research funds from the government and companies in this year’s JoongAng Ilbo college rankings, after ranking third in the category last year.

Overall, revenues from technology transfers across Korean universities rose from 68.1 billion won ($50.2 million) in 2020 to 85.1 billion won last year.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN, LEE HOO-YEON [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]