hankyoreh

Yeom Jae-ho

Korea University’s decision to do away with academic scholarships beginning with the spring semester of this year and to increase financial aid for low-income students has triggered a mixture of praise and concern. While some describe the measures as reforms aimed at achieving the original purpose of the scholarship system, others see them as arbitrary changes that take opportunities from struggling middle-class students. Korea University is one of the most prestigious private universities in South Korea; it is part of the so-called SKY trifecta, along with Seoul National University and Yonsei University.

On Feb. 4, Korea University explained that, starting in the spring semester of this year, it would stop issuing academic scholarships, which were worth 2.7 billion to 2.8 billion won (US$2.17 million to US$2.25 million), and in their place launch a “justice scholarship” system, increasing financial aid for students in difficult financial circumstances. Students in the three lowest income deciles, for example, will be exempted from paying tuition altogether.

Of the 35 billion won in the university’s scholarship budget, 20 billion won was allocated to what they are calling ‘justice scholarships’, 10 billion won to educational programs including domestic and international experiential learning and 3.5 billion won for independent student government. These changes reflect the wishes of university president Yeom Jae-ho, who assumed the position in Mar. 2015.

“I see this as a positive thing, since the university wants to find students who are facing financial difficulties even if this is not reflected in the figures,” said an official in the Education Ministry, who described this as a personal opinion and not an official one. “In the sense that this is broadening the opportunities for higher education, I think this is an appropriate direction for change.”

“Back when times were tough, there was widespread agreement in South Korean society that we should give scholarships to people with outstanding grades in order to train talented people,” said Kim Sam-ho, an analyst with the Korea Higher Education Research Institute (KHEI). “Now, though, we need to move toward an income-based scholarship system as they have in other countries.”

In the US, some universities provide both academic scholarships and need-based scholarships, while others only offer need-based scholarships. At Ivy League universities such as Princeton and Harvard, there are rules that only allow need-based scholarships and ban scholarships based on grades.

Need-based scholarships include not only the cost of tuition but also a stipend that is calculated to cover room, board and books.

In the US, academic scholarships are often provided in order to train skilled workers in particular areas of study that are linked to regional demand, in areas such as nursing, soil studies and aerospace engineering.

In Japanese universities, on the other hand, an average of 40% of university scholarships are given to students with good grades.

The university system in South Korea is similar to that of Japan, but the ratio of academic scholarships is higher at South Korean universities.

According to information released in 2014 by Higher Education in Korea, a service provided by South Korea‘s Education Ministry, four-year universities around the country gave 28.6% of scholarships to low-income students and 31.9% of scholarships to students with good grades.

There are big differences between various South Korean universities, with some giving more than half of scholarships on an academic basis and barely 20% on a basis of financial need.

At the same time, there are some who wonder whether South Korean universities should really be devoting all of their limited scholarship budgets to low-income students.

“University scholarships are funded by tuition, and the aid that goes to low-income students could be taken from the tuition of middle-class students who have to work odd jobs because their parents’ income disqualifies them from getting financial aid. The problem is that the responsibility for education welfare, which the state ought to bear, is being placed on the shoulders of students instead,” said Song Gi-chang, an education professor at Sookmyung Women’s University.

“Students are supposed to fill out applications for the new scholarship system right away, but the university hasn’t clearly explained the standards or method of selection, and the students find themselves forced to submit a ‘poverty certificate’ that shows in detail how poor they are,” said Park Se-hun, student body president at Korea University. “The fundamental solution is to increase scholarships and to lower tuition, and it‘s too bad that we have to squabble over how we’re going to divide such a limited pie.”

By Um Ji-won, staff reporter

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