Regional Universities in Distress... The Solution is a 'University Network'

Kim Tae-hoon, Vice Chairman of Sagokse, Proposes University Network
"Focus on National and Public Universities, Involve Private Universities and Strengthen Financial Support"
Lee Beom: "Demand Student Selection Rights but Grant Autonomy Over Government Funding"

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] A proposal has been made to establish a university network and introduce joint admissions to revive struggling regional universities. Joint admissions would require only grades that fit the network quota or minimum grades, while sharing educational resources through credit exchange or joint degree programs.

Kim Tae-hoon, Vice Chairman of the Policy Committee at Education Concern-Free World, suggested at a forum hosted by Park Jumin, a member of the Democratic Party, on the 15th titled "How to Turn the University Crisis into an Opportunity," that "If multiple universities form a network and conduct joint admissions, the hierarchy among those universities will disappear." He added, "Since private universities account for 87%, it is necessary to improve university education conditions through voluntary participation and full financial support." The first phase would focus on national and public universities while including private universities. This approach aims to create a somewhat relaxed network rather than consolidating national universities as in France.

Vice Chairman Kim also proposed fostering universities comparable to Seoul National University across various regions to disperse funding currently concentrated on a few universities. He stated, "Currently, the annual budget is about 1.5 trillion won for Seoul National University, 900 billion won for Yonsei and Korea Universities, and 400 billion won for regional national universities. An upward leveling of financial support to about 100 million won per professor is necessary." He added, "Gradually, measures such as halving tuition fees and increasing the ratio of full-time faculty to the average level of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) should also be considered."

Education critic Lee Beom said, "There is an option to include major private universities in Seoul and the metropolitan area, recognizing the core vested rights of foundations (such as personnel authority), while only requiring rights related to student selection and audits." He added, "The government should provide additional support at a rate of about 100 million won per professor, prioritize the use of government funds, and allow schools to autonomously use other amounts for research or education."

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