Korean universities' role for immigrant students

With fast-paced academic progress backed by hours spent at extracurricular academies, Korea's public high school education feels daunting for many students. But if it's stressful for Koreans, it's near-impossible for immigrant students who are still learning Korean.

No longer a racially homogeneous society, Korea's public schools are seeing a growing number of immigrant students who will play an essential role in maintaining Korea's economy because of the radically declining birthrates. Thankfully, there are many opportunities and ways to help immigrant students adjust to the Korean school system. The public high school board in local districts should collaborate with private universities that want to expand international school enrollment. Current trends show that universities have both the capability and the incentive to help immigrants, with strong governmental backing.

In terms of capability, there is already a precedent of universities helping immigrant students adjust to Korea through Korean language classes. Both Sookmyung Women's University and Dongyang University, private schools in Seoul, have started programs that host foreign students for a few months, where immigrant high schoolers intensively learn Korean with an official exemption from other classes, like science and math. This means universities are able to provide learning help and accommodations.

The Ministry of Education also created a strong incentive for universities to recruit foreign students in 2023 with the Korea 300K project, which will attempt to enroll 300,000 international students within four years. But even without this project, universities want to maintain their student enrollment for years to come, despite the declining population — according to The Korea Times, 60.8 percent of university presidents across the nation mentioned "attracting and educating international students as the second-most important priority, following financial aid."

To fulfill this, there are two reasons why universities should consider helping immigrant high schoolers already living in Korea.

First, immigrant high schoolers provide a clear pipeline for university enrollment, especially if they are able to succeed academically. If a student receives help from a particular university, they are naturally more likely to prefer that school over others.

Secondly, universities will face fewer dropouts from international students. Although universities are succeeding in recruiting students from foreign countries, dropout rates are nearly doubling, according to the Korea Educational Development Institute. The Korea Times identified a lack of support systems as a key factor, as foreign students were often left in the dark when searching for banking and visa options.

This creates the perception that universities do not care for the daily lives of foreign students, perhaps dissuading people applying from overseas. However, if universities show commitment to helping foreign students by investing in aiding immigrant high-school students, it will go far in making Korean education more attractive.

Thus, private universities offer much potential for creating programs and teaching resources to help immigrant high schoolers in Korea who are struggling to learn Korean and adjust to the public school curriculum. Local school boards and governments should reach out and begin initiatives with universities while they are still interested in helping.

Lee Jin-min (jlee22@exeter.edu) is a senior student and newspaper editor-in-chief at Phillips Exeter Academy in the U.S.