Feb. 2009.Feb. 2009.

Hye-Jung Lee, Ph.D.Hye-Jung Lee, Ph.D.

Center for Teaching & LearningCenter for Teaching & Learning

Seoul National University, KoreaSeoul National University, Korea

1Higher Education in Korea

South Korea at a Glance

Higher Education in Korea 2

Area: 99.6 K Sq. Km (107th)

Population: 48 Million (27th)

Economy and ICT (World rank)

- OECD member economy in 1996

- Economy (11th)

- Broadband diffusion (2nd)

- Home PC diffusion (3rd)

- Internet use 78%

- Average hours of internet use 13.7 hr/week

I. Overview

3

OverviewOverviewII

Higher Education in Korea

Education in General

Socio-cultural context

- Homogeneity of Korean society: prevalence of the egalitarian ideal- Homogeneity of Korean society: prevalence of the egalitarian ideal

- Confusion tradition: meritocracy, “education fever” - Confusion tradition: meritocracy, “education fever”

Formal Education

- Primary(6) - Middle(3) - High School(3) – Universities/Colleges(4)- Primary(6) - Middle(3) - High School(3) – Universities/Colleges(4)

- Primary & Secondary: 10,948 schools, 7.8M students, 389K teachers - Primary & Secondary: 10,948 schools, 7.8M students, 389K teachers

- Universities/Colleges: 376 institutions, 3.5M students, 60K+ FT - Universities/Colleges: 376 institutions, 3.5M students, 60K+ FT

teachersteachers

Non-formal Education & Training

- Public/private job training institutions; private tutoring institutions,

adult education centers; in-plant training institutions, etc.

Higher Education in Korea 4

Budget

5

One year budget (2008) : 35.9 trillion Korean won

: 5.06% of the GNP

: 19.6% of total Government budget

the Biggest portion

: Elementary & Secondary Education 86.2%

: Higher Education 12.3%

Statistics

6Higher Education in Korea

Public educational expenditures (% GDP)

School System

7

Types of Higher Education Institutions

Higher Education in Korea 8

University

Industrial University

University of Education

Junior College

Open University

Technical College

College in the Company

Cyber College & University

Miscellaneous Schools Others

Enrollment rate 70.5% (2008)

Types of Higher Education Institutions

Higher Education in Korea 9

Junior College(2 or 3 yr)

13 national/public, 139 private

817,994 studentsin 152 Junior colleges (2006)

University(4 yr)

2,434,112 students in 221 colleges and universities (2006)

43 national/public, 178 private 6 year program : medicine, oriental medicine, dentistry

Others(4 yr)

1 Broadcast & Correspondence University (300,000 enrollments each year) 18 Cyber Colleges & Universities (28,000 newly entrance each year)

Types of Higher Education Institutions

Higher Education in Korea 10

Cyber Colleges & Universities

Statistics

Schools, Students, and Teachers

11Higher Education in Korea

Statistics

Percentage of Female Students by Year

25 %

30 %

35 %

40 %

12Higher Education in Korea

EliteElite MassMass UniversalUniversal

Statistics

Enrollment Rate

10 %

30 %

50 %

70 %

13Higher Education in Korea

Statistics

International Comparison: Tertiary attainment for age group 25-34

14Higher Education in Korea

Statistics

International Comparison: Tertiary attainment for age group 55-64

15Higher Education in Korea

Statistics

Advancement Rate: High School Higher Education (Total)

30 %

50 %

70 %

90 %

16Higher Education in Korea

Statistics

Advancement Rate: High School Higher Education

General High School Higher Education

Vocational High School Higher Education

17Higher Education in Korea

Statistics

Number of Students in Higher Education Institutions by Field of Study (2008)

18Higher Education in Korea

Statistics

Employment Rate of the Graduates of Higher Education Institutions by Year

19Higher Education in Korea

Statistics

Changes in Admission Rate by Year

20Higher Education in Korea

Statistics

Degrees Awarded by Year

21Higher Education in Korea

Statistics

Higher Education in Korea 22

University Graduates by Field of Study (%)

* Source : Education at a Glance (OECD Indicators, 2002)

Education Humanities & Art

Social Sciences, Business,

Law

Services Engineer-ing, Manu-facturing

Agri-culture

Health & Welfare

Physical sciences

KoreaKorea 5.2 21.4 22.3 2.9 27.4 2.6 7.1 3.5

U.S.A.U.S.A. 13.2 14.4 41.4 3.5 6.3 2.3 9.6 1.4

GermanyGermany 8.0 14.7 27.4 1.8 17.6 1.9 15.2 5.0

HungaryHungary 20.0 8.7 38.7 8.4 9.1 3.7 8.5 0.7

PolandPoland 11.5 6.5 40.0 3.6 7.3 1.7 1.9 1.2

Statistics

Students Studying Abroad by Year

23Higher Education in Korea

Statistics

The Rank of Korea’s Major Universities in International Evaluation (The Times)

24Higher Education in Korea

I. Overview

25

Issues and ChallengesIssues and ChallengesIIII

Higher Education in Korea

Trajectory of Educational Expansion

Higher Education in Korea 26

* Trow, “Forms and Phases of Higher Education”: Elite(<15%) → Mass(15-50) → Universal(>55%)

Step-by-step attainment of universal education:

primary → secondary → higher education

110

-10

10

30

50

70

90

1970 1975 1980 1990 1995 2000 2003 2005 2006

Primary Lower Secondary Upper Secondary Tertiary

Elite Mass Universal

Mobilization of Private Resources

Higher Education in Korea 27

< Private School Enrollment Share(2006) >

74.6

48.1

18.7

1.2

25.4

51.9

81.3

98.8

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Universities/Colleges

High Schools

Middle Schools

Primary Schools

Private National/Public

(Unit: %)

Shrinking School Pop. Amidst Ageing

Higher Education in Korea 28

LowFertility Ageing

Total fertility rate No. of birth

Proportion, over 65 and 75 No. of the elderly

College Admission Dominates K-12 Education

College-Entrance-Driven System

- Extreme competition at high schools to enter top 4~5 universities

obstructing the well-rounded growth of students

→ Inordinate expansion of private education aggravating equity imbalance between different SES groups (private education costs: 1.9% of GDP in 2002)

→ Large volumes of study abroad leading to educational trade deficit

Higher Education in Korea 29

Increasing “Education Exodus”

Higher Education in Korea 30

’97’97 ’99’99 ’01’01 ’03’03 ’04’04

CountriesCountries 6969 7171 7272 7373 8383

# Students# Students 133,249133,249 120,170120,170 149,933149,933 159,903159,903 187,683187,683

’05’05

8686

192,254192,254

Korean Students Studying Abroad

* Foreign student share in the U.S.(2006): Korea 93,728/ India 76,708/ China 60,850

’01’01 ’02’02 ’03’03 ’04’04 ’05*’05*

ExportsExports 10.810.8 16.916.9 14.814.8 15.915.9 10.210.2

ImportsImports 1,070.01,070.0 1,426.61,426.6 1,854.71,854.7 2,493.82,493.8 3,371.43,371.4

Trade Deficit in Education

(Unit : million US$)(Unit : million US$)

Excess supply in graduate students

Higher Education in Korea 31

Unemployment rate (engineering) : 9.8%(’97) 16.6%(’03)139 of 200 4-year universities offer doctoral degree

AssociateAssociate Bachelor Bachelor Master Master DoctorateDoctorate

53%53% 19%19% 20%20% 8%8%

44%44% 4%4% 13%13% 39%39%KoreaKorea

U SU S

HE is not pertinent enoughHE is not pertinent enough

Higher Education in Korea 32

Extent of dissatisfaction: CEO’s view on HE

87%Practice&field exp

75%Creativity

68%Field experience

offaculty

70%instructions

72%CurriculumFederation of Korean

Industries, 2002.

24.131.6

26.727.9

15.815.0

33.325.4

Jr.CollegeUniversity

Well Matched

Matched MismatchedBadly Mismatched

Source: Office of Statistics, 2003

(%)Mismatch between jobs and majors

Stakeholders are disconnectedStakeholders are disconnected

Higher Education in Korea 33

Limited university-industry partnership Low mobility between academia and business University portion of industry's R&D investment: 2.4%(’00) → 1.7% (’03) (MOST, ‘04)

Low commercialization of university-based IPRs Patent share (90~’01) : universities 0.5%,

companies 78.8%, research institutes 2.9%, individuals 17.8%

Un-coordinated financial support to universities Duplication of funding for the same purpose by

several line ministries

HE is not prepared for an aging HE is not prepared for an aging populationpopulation

Higher Education in Korea 34

<Source : National Statistical Office>