Next Year, National Scholarship for Low-Income Families Raised from 5.2 Million to 7 Million Won

Vice Minister of Economy and Finance Holds Higher Education Budget Council Meeting

Ando-geol, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government plans to increase the national scholarship for low-income groups to 7 million KRW per person next year and fully support college tuition for the third and subsequent children, investing budget to expand opportunities for higher education.

Ando Geol, Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, held a higher education budget consultation meeting at Chungbuk National University on the 6th to discuss the direction of budget investment for the next year.

Next year's higher education investment will focus on producing results from newly established university education innovation programs, expanding higher education opportunities, and supporting autonomous university restructuring.

First, efforts will be concentrated on establishing the three major university education innovation programs. In the case of RIS, education programs will be designed according to the demands of local companies, and investment from local education offices will be induced, focusing on vocational education fields.

The digital convergence virtual campus will increase the number of universities, companies, and research institutes for each of the existing eight campuses. The LINC Phase 3 project, which will be implemented from next year, will be supported in three types according to the level of industry-academia cooperation of each university.

To increase higher education opportunities, the government will ▲raise the national scholarship amount for basic and near-poverty groups from 5.2 million KRW to 7 million KRW ▲fully support tuition fees for the third and subsequent children in multi-child families ▲expand support for the employment-linked student loan repayment program to include graduate students.

Additionally, the performance of university restructuring will be reviewed and reflected in the decision on whether to support the 'Financial Innovation Support Program' and the scale of support. Incentives for lecture and credit exchange, as well as sharing of faculty and learning resources among national universities, will be increased. Regional specialized colleges will be encouraged to become higher vocational education institutions through collaboration with basic local governments.

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