'Illegal High-Priced Admission Consulting at 600,000 Won per Hour, Thriving Despite Government Crackdown'

Report limit is 300,000 won, but actual fees exceed twice that
Education authorities launch joint inspection of academies with high tuition fees

As the college entrance exam schedule for the 2024 academic year (Suneung) intensifies, it has been revealed that some academies are exploiting the anxiety of students and parents to demand exorbitant fees for admission counseling. The Ministry of Education is set to conduct special crackdowns on these entities.

On the 11th, the Ministry of Education announced that, together with metropolitan and provincial offices of education, it will carry out special inspections from the 12th of this month until February 16th next year to address illegal overcharging of admission counseling and tutoring fees.

On the 8th, the distribution day of the 2024 College Scholastic Ability Test score reports, third-year students at Gyeongbok High School in Jongno-gu, Seoul, are checking their scores.
[Photo by Joint Press Corps]

The Ministry plans to inspect academies registered under the 'Admission Counseling and Guidance Tutoring Course' with the metropolitan and provincial offices of education. The focus will be on whether tutoring fees were overcharged and whether the academies exaggerated or falsely advertised the experience of their staff as admission officers.

Actual Admission Consulting Fees Sometimes Exceed 1 Million KRW per Hour

Currently, each education support office sets an upper limit on tutoring fees per minute to prevent excessive academy fees.

For example, the Gangnam Seocho Education Support Office, which oversees the academy district in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, has set the upper limit for admission consulting fees at 5,000 KRW per minute. Other regions have lower limits.

Based on the Daechi-dong academy district, the maximum admission consulting fee is 300,000 KRW per hour. However, actual admission consulting fees often far exceed 300,000 KRW per hour, sometimes surpassing 1,000,000 KRW.

According to statistics on private education expenses for elementary, middle, and high school students, last year, the average private education cost for high school seniors who participated in career and admission consulting was 1,080,000 KRW. A significant number of these students only attended one or two consulting sessions.

On the afternoon of November 20th, a middle school 2nd-grade parent attended a public hearing on the draft revision of the 2028 college entrance examination system held at the FKI Tower in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, listening to the proposed changes. Photo by Jo Yongjun [Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@]

The Ministry of Education promotes annual crackdowns on overcharging of tutoring fees. However, high-cost and illegal private education still persists, leading to criticism that these crackdowns lack effectiveness.

In particular, last year from July to December, the Ministry, along with the National Tax Service, the National Police Agency, and metropolitan and provincial offices of education, conducted crackdowns on illegal private education such as excessive tutoring fees but did not achieve significant results.

Ministry of Education Steps Up Public Admission Counseling Support

The reason for using consulting services costing over 10,000 KRW per minute is anxiety. Parents of examinees are aware that these fees are excessive, but due to their anxiety, they still use such academies.

On mom cafes this month, during the peak period of regular admission preparation after the Suneung, posts appeared saying, "The cost seems to be about 600,000 KRW for an average of 50 minutes. Moms also study, but there are unclear parts that I want to check by receiving counseling," and "The price is higher than expected, but I wonder if it’s better to pay that much and get the service."

Comments from parents on these cafes were mixed, but generally, the atmosphere leaned toward the belief that it is better to receive the counseling.

The reason for using consulting services that cost over 10,000 won in Bundang is due to anxiety. Parents of exam candidates also know that the cost is excessive, but they use such academies to alleviate their anxiety. The photo is not related to the specific content of the article.
Photo by Asia Economy DB

In response to such anxiety-driven admission consulting, the Ministry of Education plans to strengthen public admission counseling.

First, the Ministry and the Korea Council for University Education (KCUE) Admission Counseling Center have designated the period from January 15th, the deadline for announcing early admission results for the 2024 academic year, to January 6th next year, the deadline for regular admission applications, as the 'intensive counseling period.' During this time, admission counseling will be provided to students via phone and online.

The counseling will be conducted by the KCUE counseling teacher group, composed of on-site teachers with high expertise in admission and guidance, recommended by metropolitan and provincial offices of education. The Ministry also plans to increase the Admission Counseling Center’s budget from 2.7 billion KRW this year to 4.5 billion KRW next year and expand the number of counseling teachers.

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