The impact of a sluggish economy in South Korea was revealed last year as the number of university students using educational loans increased. The Ministry of Education and the Korea Council for University Education recently announced the “August 2024 University Information Disclosure Analysis Results” which included this information.
This survey targeted a total of 409 schools, including 223 general universities (including education universities), 142 specialized universities, and 44 graduate schools, analyzing 323 of them.
Last year, the number of students using educational loans from the Korea Scholarship Foundation at general and education universities in South Korea increased by 7.7%. This amounted to 441,880 students, up by 31,787 students (7.7%) from the previous year’s 411,093. An official from the Ministry of Education attributed the increase in educational loans to the overall unfavorable economic conditions.
The number of users of general repayment educational loans increased by 33.6% to 215,836 students, while users of post-employment repayment educational loans decreased by 9.0% to 227,044 students.
The utilization rate of educational loans was 13.8%, a 0.9-point increase from the previous year. The utilization rate of educational loans at national universities was 10.8%, 4 points lower than private universities (14.8%). In the capital region universities, the utilization rate was 14.8%, 1.9 points higher than non-capital region universities.
Last year, the average educational investment cost per student was 19,527,000 won, a 5.5% increase from the previous year’s 18,508,000 won. This cost includes student education, educational environment improvement, labor costs, operating costs, scholarships, book purchase costs, experiment and practice costs, and machinery purchase costs.
The educational investment cost per student at national universities increased by 9.3% to 24,926,000 won, while at private universities it increased by 3.9% to 17,802,000 won. In the capital region universities, the cost was 20,989,000 won, a 2.9% increase, and in non-capital region universities, it was 18,307,000 won, a 7.8% increase.
In specialized universities, the number of students using educational loans decreased by 0.9% last year. The number of students using general repayment educational loans increased by 64% to 34,450 students, while users of post-employment repayment educational loans decreased by 16.4% to 73,585 students. The utilization rate of educational loans was 15.1%, a 0.4-point increase from the previous year.
Last year, the average educational investment cost per student was 12,494,000 won, a 6.1% increase from the previous year’s 11,772,000 won. In public universities, the cost was 25,294,000 won, a 2.1% increase, while in private universities it was 12,289,000 won, a 6.2% increase.
The total amount of scholarships in specialized universities last year was 1.4161 trillion won, a 2.6% decrease from the previous year’s 1.4534 trillion won.