Many universities are witnessing rallies and even hunger strikes as students protest the world’s second most expensive tuition. A group of graduate students in Seoul claimed that the ``indiscriminate’’ raise in tuition poses a serious threat to their pursuit of study and infringes upon their human rights. Tuition in Korea is high by international standards.
Graduate school students of Sungkyunkwan University inflamed the so-called yellow-flower (forsythia) struggle on campus. They have filed a petition with the Human Rights Commission that a steep hike in academic fees is a violation of their human rights. They say the expensive bill is no longer a financial issue but a social one.
It is unclear whether the expensive tuition infringes upon the human rights of students. The petition illustrates, however, that the costly educational bill has become a social issue.
A few Sogang-University students shaved their heads before starting a hunger strike in protest over the hike. They argue the yearly bill of 10 million won (about $8,850) is too high even by the OECD yardstick.
Police banned the planned rally to urge President Lee Myung-bak to honor his campaign pledge of halving tuition. A few students committed suicide out of frustration over the tuition raise.
Korea ranks second after the United States in tuition. Korea is more expensive than the United States in public-university tutoring costs after adjusting for income level.
This year, the government set a ceiling on tuition. The administrative guideline did not produce any tangible result. Forcing universities to freeze fees might degrade the quality of education.
Questions must be raised about what are the key factors that push costs higher. First of all, many universities have been aggressive in constructing new buildings and buying property.
The heavy spending on infrastructure merits critical review. Now is not the time to add buildings on campus as many universities face mergers and acquisitions in line with the decrease in population.
The government expects the college quota to exceed high-school graduates from 2015.
Student loans are not a panacea as graduates struggle to find jobs. Upon graduation many of them remain unemployed but are under mounting pressure to repay loans. The jobless college graduates sometimes become financial delinquents.
A survey showed that 87 percent of students have difficulty in paying tuition.
Korea boasts of one of the world’s highest college enrollment rate. About 84 percent of high school graduates attended universities in 2008, compared with 27 percent in 1980.
Korea ranks 25th among its OECD peers in the ratio of government grants to university budgets in 2007. The country subsidizes 23 percent of university budgets, far lower than the OECD average of 69.1 percent.
The data showed that the government should expand its budget for college education. The government could tie the subsidies to academic performances and mergers and acquisitions of colleges.