Alternative college to foster entrepreneurship
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The Professional Institute of Entrepreneurship (PIE) building in Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province. / Courtesy of PIE
By Chung Hyun-chae
A new alternative college will open in March to teach students how to develop entrepreneurship and to empower them to create new jobs.
“Given that in the future many jobs will be created, and many will become obsolete, we aim to cultivate talented students who can grasp and set the trends in the job market,” said Kim Joo-young, chairman of the preparatory committee for the Professional Institute of Entrepreneurship (PIE).
Kim said that Finnish education has affected how PIE has been designed as it is an unprecedented attempt in Korea.
“We will help students improve their abilities which cannot be replaced by a machine,” said Paik Young-soon, president of PIE.
PIE will provide four academic majors ― psychology consultation, architectural design, local community and humanities information and technology (humanities IT).
“We will try to offer students convergence education by allowing and even encouraging them to take classes in all majors,” Kim Eun-ah, a school spokeswoman, said.
Local community and humanities IT courses will focus on encouraging students to create new jobs.
“For example, students taking the local community courses may create a new job related to the interior design of nursing homes for the elderly,” Kim said.
The school will also help them start their own businesses or enter companies.
The students should take 108 credits to graduate, which should take three years to complete.
Professors from top universities, including Seoul National University, Korea University, Sungkyunkwan University and Ewha Womans University, have participated in establishing PIE during the last two years.
With the aim of developing practical abilities, students will also get to participate in a number of group projects led by working-level experts from the ground up.
As no alternative college has yet to become accredited by the Ministry of Education, PIE should totally rely on tuition for its operational budget, while most faculty members will donate their talent.
The tuition for each semester will amount to 2.2 million won, according to the school.
PIE will recruit high school graduates, university graduates, college dropouts, and those whose careers may have stalled. It plans to recruit 60 freshman based on document screening and individual interviews.
Applications for admission will be accepted from Jan. 11 to 22.
Those interested can download an application form from the PIE website (www.pie-edu.kr) and submit it to master@pie-edu.kr.