Decline in Government Financial Support for Junior Colleges... More Than Half of Financial Aid Comes from National Scholarships

Insufficient General Support Projects Including Operating Expenses and R&D Infrastructure Compared to Regular Universities
Limitations in Substantial Financial Expansion for Junior Colleges Due to Focus on National Scholarships

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The proportion of government financial support allocated to junior colleges among higher education institutions has decreased over the past three years. More than half of the government financial support received by junior colleges comes in the form of national scholarships, which is criticized for not effectively alleviating their financial difficulties.

On the 21st, the Higher Vocational Education Research Institute affiliated with the Korea Council for College Education analyzed the "2021 Status of Financial Support for Junior Colleges" and found that although the total government financial support for higher education institutions increased as of 2020, the share allocated to junior colleges has declined.

The total financial support for higher education institutions was KRW 13.7744 trillion in 2020, with the share for junior colleges decreasing from 12.9% in 2018 to 12.6% in 2020. The financial support amount for junior colleges increased from KRW 1.5547 trillion in 2018 to KRW 1.7203 trillion in 2020.

Among 133 junior colleges, 125 are private institutions, making the majority private, but compared to universities, support for general operating expenses and R&D infrastructure is insufficient. The Higher Vocational Education Research Institute pointed out that this type of support method causes difficulties in the actual financial expansion of junior colleges.

The amount supported by the central government to junior colleges was KRW 1.7293 trillion in 2020, of which 58% (KRW 1.036 trillion) was national scholarships.

Although government support for general projects is on the rise, the proportion allocated to junior colleges compared to all higher education institutions remains below 10%. The scale of general support projects for junior colleges was KRW 570.7 billion last year, accounting for 9.7% of the total general support project funding for higher education institutions.

In the Ministry of Education's general support project status, the amount of support per enrolled student also shows a large gap between universities and junior colleges. Universities receive KRW 2.3682 trillion across 59 projects, providing KRW 1.64 million per student, while junior colleges receive KRW 512.1 billion across 19 projects, amounting to only KRW 1.18 million per student.

As of 2020, the largest project within the Ministry of Education's general support for junior colleges (KRW 512.1 billion) was the Junior College Innovation Support Project (75.4%). The Higher Vocational Education Research Institute argues that various policy support projects aligned with the identity of junior colleges need to be developed.

Financial support from local governments to junior colleges varies greatly depending on their financial situation, and the proportion of financial support compared to all higher education institutions continues to decline. Local government support for junior colleges decreased by 12.6% from KRW 113.2 billion in 2018 to KRW 98.9 billion in 2019, then increased by 28.4% to KRW 127 billion in 2020.

Kang Munsang, director of the Higher Vocational Education Research Institute, said, "General support projects for junior colleges are also concentrated on the ‘Junior College Innovation Support Project’," and added, "We hope that the new government will provide multifaceted policy support to enhance the role of junior colleges as regional lifelong vocational education institutions."

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