[Editorial] Lessening college students’ living costs

Posted on : 2011-02-26 14:41 KST Modified on : 2011-02-26 14:41 KST

University students have recently faced trying times. While some whose parents are supporting tuition costs may feel less of a sting, the remaining are frightened. The plight is particularly miserable for students who are attending remotely located schools where commuting is impossible. They can barely keep pace with rising tuition costs, and must also face persistently mounting room or dormitory expenses as well.
Amid the recent situation of skyrocketing key money deposits and consumer prices, fees for lodging and university apartment rentals in the greater Seoul area have risen by an average of about 20 percent. With the worsening key money situation in the metropolitan area, students say that finding a room in a university district verges on warfare. It is difficult enough to secure a key deposit money arrangement, but even in those cases the deposits have increased by tens of millions of Won (tens of thousands of dollars), while monthly rental arrangements have also reached a level beyond the means of students. As a result, students have been forced into outlying flophouse neighborhood and semi-underground units located far away from the school.
The situation is the same for boarding houses. In Seoul’s Sinchon neighborhood, which is home to a large concentration of universities, boarding house costs have increased by an average of 100 thousand Won ($89) per month this semester. Students typically pay a modest sum with no deposit money required for a tiny room, and receive a free meal daily, with the flexibility of not having to sign a contract or pay a hefty deposit.
Some have now cited examples of some houses that are demanding one-year contracts and refusing to give back the full balance when a tenant wishes to vacate midway through. So severe is the situation that student councils have announced plans to investigate cases of student victimization and collusion by boarding house owners and file suit with the Fair Trade Commission.
It is not as though the boarding house owners have nothing to say for themselves. While some of them are better off, operating several different houses, the majority are small-scale. With prices of groceries, heating, and lighting going sky high, they would likely have trouble continuing without raising lodging costs. Even so, they should not engage in practices such as colluding on prices and demanding yearly contracts that go beyond ordinary transaction practices, or refusing to give back deposits.
In the final analysis, the problem ultimately stems from an absurdly insufficient availability of dormitory space. At present, university dormitories are said to be large enough to accommodate just 10 to 20 percent of prospective students. This rate needs to be increased to at least the 30 to 40 percent range. If necessary, the government should establish a support plan and induce universities to undertake expansions of their facilities.
Another good plan would be for the central or local government to increase the availability of public rental housing for students. Recent, the Korea Land and Housing Corporation met with a highly favorable response after it supplied “university student bogeumjari housing” to basic livelihood security recipients and students from single-parent households. The government bears responsibility for allowing the students who will take charge of Korea’s future to at least study without worrying about food and shelter.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]