Director: Daniel C. Levy

Tuition as a Prime Source of Revenue for South Korean Private Universities

PROPHE Summary (by Prachayani Praphamontripong):

South Korean private higher education institutions typically rely on student tuition fees. Student and parent anger over rising fees suggests that the institutions need to diversify their sources of revenue.

For the full story see Hankooki.com, March 28, 2006, "Private Universities Depend on Tuition," by Chung Ah-young.
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200603/kt2006032816450911990.htm

PROPHE Observation (by Daniel C. Levy):

South Korea is another example of the rising tuition trends illustrated in PROPHE News Features (i.e. the U.S., India, Japan, and Costa Rica). Private higher education institutions globally tend to be overwhelmingly tuition-driven. Whereas revenue diversification would likely help South Korean institutions, the article lacks substantiation for the claim. The South Korean case illustrates a common global pattern also in that older and more prestigious institutions are likely to be less tuition-dependent than are more recent institutions. Yonsei University, acclaimed in medical sciences, is an example of the former. Sejong University, founded as a women teachers' college and geared toward demand-absorbing fields, is an example of the latter.