hankyoreh

By Lee Jae-hoon

Students entering 43 private universities for the 2012 academic year will be unable to receive financial assistance for tuition fees due to a recent government assessment saying the schools did not make the grade.
The 43 private universities, including 17 which have had limits placed on student loans, have been selected as ineligible to receive financial support from the government next year. The same 43 institutions are also absent from the list of universities able to receive financial support to reduce tuition fee burdens, which the government is to announce on Sept. 12.
Materials released by the Ministry Of Education, Science And Technology (MEST) on Sept. 5 indicate that of the country’s 346 higher education institutions (200 four-year universities and 146 vocational colleges), Sangmyung and 27 other four-year universities, and 15 international and vocational colleges are to have their financial support from the government limited. Among these 43, Wonkwang and eight other four-year universities, as well as Sunghwa and seven other vocational colleges, will also have their ability to grant student loans limited, and are therefore highly likely to be designated as “poorly managed universities” and be targeted for structural readjustment.
The MEST stated that it would decide whether or not to provide financial support to the remaining 288 institutions (the total of 346, minus the 43 deemed ineligible and 15 religious schools that did not take part in the assessment) by means of further evaluation, including projects to improve educational capacity.
The private universities deemed ineligible for financial support have protested the decision, saying the results of the assessment were distorted due to its uniform focus on quantitative indices.
Sangmyung University issued a critical press release, saying, “Graduates in arts subjects remain in self-employed jobs as writers, artists and actors and therefore do not obtain workplace health insurance. Sangmyung University has a high number of students in cultural and artistic fields, making these statistical indices extremely illogical.”

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