Rising Prices and Reduced Enrollment... Gwangju and Jeonnam Universities to Raise Tuition Fees Sequentially

Songwon University decides on a 4.6% increase for the first time in 13 years
Gwangju National University of Education is the only regional national university to raise tuition by 4.9%
Gwangju University and Dongshin University increase by 5.0% and 5.4%, respectively
Chonnam National University, Chosun University, Honam University, and others to freeze tuition fees

Songwon University campus view.

Some universities in Gwangju and Jeonnam have raised their tuition fees for the 2025 academic year for the first time in over a decade, citing rising prices and reduced enrollment quotas.

According to the university community in the Gwangju and Jeonnam regions on the 7th, several national and private universities, including Gwangju University, Gwangju Women's University, Gwangju National University of Education, and Dongshin University, have finalized tuition hikes.

Songwon University held a tuition review committee meeting on the 3rd and decided to increase tuition by 4.6% for the 2025 academic year. This is the first comprehensive tuition increase in 13 years since a minor increase was applied only to the College of Engineering in 2012.

Gwangju Women's University also held a tuition review committee meeting on the 24th of last month and decided on a 4.9% increase, the first in 16 years.

Previously, Gwangju University was the first among local universities to decide on a 5% increase in 13 years, while Dongshin University decided on a 5.4% increase in 16 years. Dongshin University explained that although it had reduced or frozen tuition for 16 years from 2009 to 2024 to alleviate the burden on parents, it decided on the increase to strengthen educational competitiveness.

Among national universities in the Gwangju and Jeonnam regions, Gwangju National University of Education was the only one to raise tuition by 4.9%. The university stated that the increase was inevitable due to reductions in enrollment quotas.

On the other hand, after Minister of Education Lee Jooho requested last December that the presidents of key national universities freeze tuition, Chonnam National University, Mokpo National University, and Suncheon National University decided to freeze their tuition fees.

Regional private universities such as Chosun University, Honam University, Nambu University, and Mokpo University also decided to maintain their current tuition levels.

Meanwhile, under the current Higher Education Act, the maximum allowable increase in university tuition fees cannot exceed 1.5 times the average consumer price inflation rate over the previous three years, which is 3.66%. Therefore, the legal cap for the 2025 tuition increase is 5.49%.

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