Will Adding 'Guknip' Increase Student Numbers? 13 National Universities to Change Their Names

The photo above is not related to the article below. On February 28th, new students were moving to attend the entrance ceremony at Kyung Hee University in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Thirteen national universities outside the metropolitan area, struggling with a decline in student numbers, are expected to be allowed to use the word 'National' in their university names.

According to the education sector on the 9th, the Ministry of Education has decided to collectively approve the name change applications submitted by the 13 national universities and recently announced a draft amendment to the National School Establishment Decree reflecting this.

The national universities that applied for the name change are ▲ Gangneung-Wonju University ▲ Kongju National University ▲ Gunsan University ▲ Kumoh National Institute of Technology ▲ Mokpo National University ▲ Mokpo National Maritime University ▲ Pukyong National University ▲ Suncheon National University ▲ Andong National University ▲ Changwon National University ▲ Korea National University of Transportation ▲ Korea Maritime and Ocean University ▲ Hanbat National University.

All of them will have the word 'National' added to the front of their existing names.

These regional national universities have been promoting the name change to emphasize their status as national universities and increase recognition, as it has become difficult to recruit new students due to the sharp decline in the school-age population.

Universities with metropolitan local government names, such as Kyungpook National University and Pusan National University, are well recognized as national universities, but those with basic local government names are often not known to be national universities.

In fact, Gyeongsang National University, a representative national university, changed its name to 'Gyeongsang National University' in 2021 after merging with Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology.

The Ministry of Education also plans to revise regulations on the consolidation and closure of national universities. This will be done by specifying in the enforcement decree that the Minister of Education can consolidate or close two or more universities if necessary for university structural reform and specialization.

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