More Collegians Take Leave of Absence
By Kim Yu-sun
Global Student Reporter
Fewer students are graduating from university within four years.
According to the Korean Educational Development Institute, in 2008, the total number of college students who took a leave of absence exceeded 1 million. Now, one out of three college students are leaving campus.
At Korea University, the ratio of seniors taking a leave of absence (excluding those in military services) to the total number of students enrolled has been constantly rising: 14.1 percent in 2004, 15.2 percent in 2006 and, by last year, 15.5 percent.
Many suggest that this phenomenon is strongly correlated with the economic recession. The increasing number of students absent from school may be a reflection of the bad job market conditions.
An indicator released by Korea National Statistical Office shows that the youth unemployment rate is steadily escalating. By this August, it reached 8.2 percent, and, at the same time, the youth employment rate has been consistently increasing since 2005.
Amid the tight labor demand, competition is becoming more tense. Students are spending extra semesters to work on their portfolios. They strive to get better GPAs, and in order to do so, retake courses, eventually extending their graduation.
To excel over their peers, they focus on improving foreign language skills, preparing to achieve professional licenses or searching for an internship ― all of which normally require more than a two-month-long school break.
Meanwhile, students leave campus due to their strong desire to gain various experiences before they start contributing to society. "I wanted to experience things in the real world before I decide my career," said Park Min-yae, a junior majoring in history at Sogang Univeristy who has decided to leave campus this semester.
"Things are too hectic during the semester. Students are usually caught up with heavy school work, reports or exams, so I could not spare any time to do such things."
Others say that this trend is not entirely voluntary, but is contributed to by social pressure. Students are leaving school because of the need to prepare for job seeking rather than their own desire. Firms now demand various qualities besides a high GPA.
One corporate official said, "Students with internship experiences obviously work more efficiently. We cannot help but prefer job applicants with other extracurricular activities and various work experiences."
On the other hand, some question the role of Korean universities. They claim that inefficient and impractical university education is not providing what society requires of the students.
This leads to them attending private institutes. Indeed, the meaning of higher education in this society seems to be changing. Freshmen now tend to choose their major based on its usefulness for getting a job rather than their aptitude. It is also normal for liberal arts majors to double major in business. Korea University has even required all students to either double major or choose a minor since 2004.
Leave of absence from school is becoming more of an epidemic among Korean college students. Many say that they become insecure about their future as their peers leave. But their obsession with portfolios and professional licenses is not merely a blind fear of lagging behind others.
As university education is a lifetime human capital investment, this is an imminent issue both for young individuals and Korean society. Students should actively seek and decide their individual career plans before being vacillated by peer pressure.
Meanwhile, universities must facilitate students to graduate within eight semesters, by encouraging diverse extracurricular activities and practical experiences during the semester and vacations.
It would be irresponsible for the firms to induce students to leave campus for internship opportunities and require experiences that are not only time consuming but hardly creative.
There is no radical difference between "why more students are leaving campus" and "why youth unemployment is growing." Nevertheless, we anticipate that these questions will soon be solved.
Kim Yu-sun is a junior majoring in economics at Korea University