Yeonghonam 4 Universities Jointly Announce Proposal to Address Tuition Fee Imbalance and More

Chosun University, Dong-A University, Yeungnam University, Wonkwang University 18th Presidents' Council

Joint Proposal to the Ministry of Education for Sustainable Development of Private Universities

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Four universities from Yeongnam and Honam regions have jointly announced a proposal addressing ‘tuition fee imbalance resolution and securing local talent’.

According to Chosun University (President Min Young-don) on the 19th, at the 18th Yeongnam-Honam Four Universities Presidents' Council held at Dong-A University on the 16th, Chosun University, along with Dong-A University (President Lee Hae-woo), Yeungnam University (President Seo Gil-soo), and Wonkwang University (President Park Maeng-soo), announced a joint proposal for the sustainable development of private universities.

The joint proposal includes ▲resolving tuition fee imbalances to strengthen local private universities ▲expanding local government higher education support for cooperation and coexistence between local governments and universities ▲relaxing indicators related to simple financial investment and simplifying various evaluations ▲establishing policies to secure and nurture local talent.

Presidents of the four universities, including Min Young-don, requested the Ministry of Education to ▲grant autonomy in tuition fee setting within legal limits only to universities where the average tuition fee per student is below the overall or regional average tuition fee for the sake of national balanced development and nurturing future local talent ▲expand higher education support and consider the uniqueness such as the number or size of universities in each region when allocating budgets so that local governments can support various education and research projects according to each university’s specialization to revitalize the local economy.

They demanded that indicators that can be improved by simple financial investment in various government-led university evaluations be relaxed, and that universities be evaluated based on indicators such as the ratio of investment in education and research within their environment and student satisfaction, as well as integration and simplification of various evaluation indicators to minimize administrative loss.

They also urged the need to review or reduce the ratio of social integration admissions and establish incentive policies to prevent the outflow of excellent local talent to the metropolitan area and to encourage local talent to remain in the provinces.

Meanwhile, the four private universities from Yeongnam and Honam have maintained exchanges for 22 years since signing their first agreement in December 1998, promoting mutual development.

The four universities take turns hosting the annual Presidents' Council, conduct student exchanges (Yeungnam → Honam, Honam → Yeungnam), faculty exchanges by major, activate departmental councils and staff exchanges, engage in volunteer activities, student employment camps, and friendly sports competitions, serving as a model for Yeongnam-Honam harmony and local community exchange.

Min Young-don, President of Chosun University, said, “Chosun University will raise its voice together with three other Yeongnam and Honam universities as a representative private university of Honam to promote the sustainable development of private universities in Korea.”

Lee Hae-woo, President of Dong-A University, stated, “Our four Yeongnam and Honam universities play a pivotal role in promoting coexistence rather than competition among universities and have continued exchanges beyond regional boundaries. We will pay more attention and make greater efforts in future exchange programs to achieve joint prosperity and development.”

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