6 out of 10 Universities Combine In-Person and Online Classes in First Semester

More than half of national and public universities decide on in-person classes
71% of private universities choose a hybrid method
99% of 4-year universities freeze tuition fees

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Six out of ten four-year universities have decided to offer both in-person and online classes in the first semester this year. It was found that private universities prefer the hybrid method more than national universities.

On the 10th, the Council of Private University Presidents conducted a survey targeting 75 universities where the status of in-person classes for the first semester could be confirmed. Only 28 schools (37.3%) announced that they would conduct in-person classes for the first semester. Forty-seven schools (62.7%) responded that they would offer both in-person and online classes.

Although the Ministry of Education announced a policy to promote in-person classes for the first semester, among the responding universities, 71.4% of private universities (35 out of 49 schools) decided to adopt a hybrid approach depending on the type of lecture and the number of students. Among national and public universities, 14 out of 26 schools (53.9%) will conduct in-person classes, while 12 schools (46.2%) will use a hybrid method.

Most in-person classes are experimental, practical, or skill-based subjects, with the number of students limited to 40 or fewer or within half the capacity of the classroom. When the number of students exceeds 40, there is a trend to combine online and in-person classes.

The most common start date for the first semester is March 2nd, accounting for 80.6% (154 schools), followed by February 28th at 7.3% (14 schools).

Most private universities have also decided to freeze tuition fees for the first semester this year. No schools decided to raise tuition. Out of 191 schools, 189 (99.0%) will freeze tuition fees, and 2 schools will reduce them. The universities that decided to lower tuition are Paichai University and Cheongju University.

Hwang Inseong, Secretary General of the Council of Private University Presidents, said, "Although the Ministry of Education announced in December that the upper limit for tuition fee increases would be 1.67%, which is 1.5 times the inflation rate over the past three years, tuition fees have been frozen for 14 years, partly due to the KRW 300 billion scale of National Scholarship Type II and related factors." He added, "This issue should be fundamentally resolved through the expansion of higher education funding to improve actual educational conditions."

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