Jung Da-hyun is a reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues in Korea, including foreign residents, education, environment and politics. Driven by a deep interest in people’s stories, she focuses on investigative and feature reporting through direct interviews and field coverage. She received the Amnesty International Korea Media Award for her “Deepfake Crisis at Schools” series. Reach her at dahyun08@koreatimes.co.kr. Always open to hearing your stories.
18 universities earn recognition for hosting international students
gettyimagesbank
By Jung Da-hyun
The government recognized 18 universities for their excellence in hosting programs for international students, Wednesday. Conversely, it imposed a one-year restriction on 20 schools with subpar management of international students, making it virtually impossible for them to recruit more students from overseas.
The 18 standouts include Konkuk University, Kyungpook National University, Pusan National University, Ewha Womans University and Hongik University among others.
The education ministry and justice ministry jointly announced the results of their annual evaluation of universities concerning their educational internationalization competencies and the efficacy of their programs for international students.
This evaluation aims to tackle issues related to the unlawful extended stay of foreign students and to bolster the global appeal of Korean universities.
A total of 134 universities offering degree programs, including the 18, and 90 universities providing language training courses were selected as certified universities.
The 134 universities with certified status will have substantial benefits, including the relaxation of screening criteria for issuing visas to international students and allowing an additional five hours of permissible weekday part-time work for students engaging in visa-authorized employment activities.
The 18 universities, recognized as commendable institutions for hosting international students, are selected by consistently maintaining certification for over three years and maintaining an illegal stay rate of less than 2 percent.
Those schools are granted preferential status when selecting programs related to internationalization, and awarded diverse opportunities for collaboration and program development.
For instance, Kyungpook National University actively invites international student alumni as instructors to deliver special lectures aimed at motivating foreign students to excel academically and explore promising career paths. The goal was to facilitate the job placement of international students and the career development of those who were studying at the university.
On the other hand, 20 universities, encompassing both degree and language training programs, have been labeled as restricted visa issuance universities.
This implies that barring exceptional circumstances, these universities are prohibited from admitting new foreign students this year, according to the education ministry.
One such institution facing these restrictions is Hanshin University, located in Gyeonggi Province.
This university is currently under investigation by both the police and the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, after it allegedly forced 22 Uzbek students to leave the country against their will before the end of the semester on Nov. 27 last year.
The survey delves into the assessment of whether the illegal stay rate exceeds 10 percent for degree programs in universities and 30 percent for language training programs.
Universities falling short of standards in areas such as tuition fees and international students' satisfaction with language proficiency training will face sanctions and be resricted from issuing student visas in need of improvement.
Further detailed information about certified universities will be posted on the official websites of Study in Korea and National Research Foundation.