US Universities Gradually Refund Tuition Fees... Domestic Universities 'Watching Closely'

Partial Refund Decisions by Harvard, Brown, and Others
Domestic Universities Also Struggling to Find Solutions

Konkuk University First to Refund Tuition
Hansung University to Pay 200,000 KRW to All Students
Dongguk University and Sungkyunkwan University to Provide Selective Payments

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), universities in the United States are increasingly deciding to refund certain items included in tuition fees. Attention is focused on whether this movement will influence the decisions of domestic universities, which maintain the stance that 'tuition refunds are difficult.'

According to the office of Kwon Chil-seung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 24th, major universities in the U.S. have decided to refund amounts related to parts of the school facilities that students could not use due to the COVID-19 situation. U.S. universities collect tuition fees in advance, including facility fees, dormitory fees, and meal fees. The refunded items this time include dormitory fees, meal fees, and student activity fees.

Brown University refunded about $3,849 (approximately 4.67 million KRW) per person out of a semester tuition fee of $28,556 (about 35 million KRW). Harvard University refunded $5,218 (about 6.32 million KRW) per person. The University of Minnesota refunded $1,200 (about 1.45 million KRW), and the University of Wisconsin returned a total of $100 million (about 120 billion KRW) to students. Smith College and Amherst College in Massachusetts also refunded partial amounts.

As most U.S. universities closed their campuses at the end of March due to COVID-19, demands for refunds from students surged, similar to the situation in Korean universities. According to Bloomberg News, undergraduate students at over 50 U.S. universities have filed lawsuits demanding partial refunds of tuition and dormitory fees. Experts predict that if class-action lawsuits are established, the total compensation amount could reach tens of billions of dollars (approximately trillions of KRW).

On the 19th, students belonging to Corona University Student 119 held a press conference demanding tuition refunds in front of the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

In response, most U.S. universities, while stating they are operating at a deficit, have provided detailed information about their financial situations to students. Nevertheless, they decided to refund part of the tuition fees. A representative from Kwon’s office stated, "Considering that most schools closed from the end of March, it appears that half of the March dormitory and meal fees, as well as those for April and May, have been refunded."

Meanwhile, domestic universities under pressure to refund tuition are also preparing countermeasures one after another. Konkuk University was the first to announce it would refund tuition, and on the 23rd, Hansung University announced a plan to provide 200,000 KRW each to all enrolled students (6,567 students). They also proposed selecting 100 students who were directly affected by COVID-19 to receive a special scholarship of 1 million KRW per person. A Hansung University official explained, "Since March, we have held regular monthly communication sessions with the student council and empathized with the economic difficulties faced by students due to COVID-19. From the perspective of shared empathy, we judged that students urgently need living scholarships, so we decided to provide them."

Earlier, Kyonggi University, Daegu University, and Keimyung University also decided to provide scholarships ranging from 100,000 to 200,000 KRW to all students. While drawing a line that these are not tuition refunds, some universities have selectively provided scholarships to students struggling due to COVID-19. Sungkyunkwan University selected 200 students to receive 2 million KRW each, and Dongguk University decided to provide 500,000 KRW each to up to 2,000 students.

Representative Kwon said, "I feel sorry that part of students’ right to learn has been infringed due to COVID-19," and added, "I believe it is right for universities to refund part of the tuition fees to students in a reasonable way."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.