99.3% of University Students Demand Tuition Refund for First Half of the Year

On the morning of April 6, students belonging to the National University Student Council Network held placards at a press conference for the University Disaster Emergency Declaration regarding the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) held in front of the Government Seoul Office Building. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Gayeon] As the voices of university students demanding tuition refunds grow louder, a survey revealed that 99 out of 100 students support tuition refunds.

According to the National University Student Council Network (Jeondaenet) on the 29th, a survey conducted from the 24th to the 28th targeting 11,105 students from 198 universities nationwide (sampling error 95%, confidence level ±0.66%) showed that 99.3% of respondents answered that "tuition refunds are necessary."

The average percentage considered appropriate for the tuition refund amount for the first semester was 59%. Among the respondents, 27% said "50% of the tuition should be refunded," and 10.9% said "more than 90% should be refunded."

They cited reasons such as "the quality of remote classes is poor" (83.3%, multiple responses allowed), "facilities are unavailable" (79.2%), and "they are taking majors or liberal arts courses that cannot be conducted remotely" (47.2%).

The most appropriate form of tuition refund, as considered by students, was "payment of refund amount for tuition paid in the first semester" (76.6%). This was followed by "tuition reduction for the second semester" (19.8%) and "scholarships tailored to students' circumstances depending on each university's situation" (3.6%).

Regarding the method of securing funds for tuition refunds, respondents answered that "disclosure of actual tuition expenditure and refund of the difference" (68.6%), "conversion of reserve funds' usage" (14.4%), and "direct support to students through the third supplementary budget" (12.8%) were appropriate.

Regarding the government's tuition refund policy, the most common response (73.4%) was "provide financial support to universities that refund tuition for the first semester or reduce tuition for the second semester," and 22% expressed the opinion that "students should be directly supported through the third supplementary budget."

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