China's degree delisting hits Korean universities, impacting key student pipeline

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Several Korean universities are struggling to attract Chinese students after being dropped from China’s list of recognized overseas institutions. With the reasons for the removals unclear, affected universities say they have been left in a difficult position, given China’s long-established role as a major source of international students and tuition revenue.

“The university has clearly felt the impact, with a decline in applications from Chinese students,” said an official at Daejin University, one of the institutions affected by the delistings.

The Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE), an organization under China’s Ministry of Education, updated its list of accredited overseas higher education institutions in late October, removing 270 universities worldwide, including 15 from Korea.

CSCSE certifies foreign degrees for use in China’s domestic job market and civil service recruitment system.

Of the Korean universities affected, five were removed from the list in July last year, followed by another 10 in October, bringing the total number of delisted institutions to 15.

Once a university is removed from the accreditation list, degrees earned there are no longer officially recognized in China, putting graduates at a disadvantage when pursuing further studies, employment or civil service positions.

Concerns over the impact of the delisting on Chinese student recruitment are already materializing at affected universities.

Another university removed from the CSCSE list in July reported a sharp decline in Chinese student enrollments, with no new applicants from China for the second semester of 2025. Even students who had already been admitted withdrew, leaving just eight Chinese students enrolled during the most recent semester.

The university currently has 129 Chinese international students, down from 211 last April, when they accounted for 37.5 percent of its 562 international students. Chinese nationals now make up about 23 percent of the institution’s international student body.

Officials say the delisting has raised serious concerns about recruitment prospects for the coming semesters.

“Disadvantages faced by Chinese students who are already studying at our university are one of our major concerns,” a university official told The Korea Times on condition of anonymity. “With the school remaining off the recognition list, we worry that attracting new Chinese students will become increasingly difficult.”

The university said it submitted a formal appeal to CSCSE but has yet to receive a response.

“We have not been informed of the reason for the delisting,” the official said. “At this point, we can only speculate that it may be related to our status as a religiously affiliated university.”

Reports indicate that most of the five Korean universities removed from the list in July are religiously affiliated.

The main gate of the Embassy of China in central Seoul's Jung District / Newsis

According to Korea’s Ministry of Education, China generally restricts the recognition of religiously affiliated institutions and the universities in question are either operated by religious foundations or require some kind of religious coursework.

However, Chinese education authorities offered no explicit explanation to the affected universities when announcing the delisting decision.

When asked about the issue, the Chinese Embassy in Seoul was not immediately available for comment.

Following the removal of an additional 10 universities in October — including national institutions — questions have been raised over whether strategies to boost international student enrollment may have drawn scrutiny from Chinese authorities.

Some critics suggested that financially strained Korean universities have relied on Chinese recruitment brokers to boost enrollment.

The education ministry said during talks with Chinese officials in November last year, CSCSE explained that schools were removed from the list if they had no recent cases of degrees being recognized in China.

China reviews foreign degrees on a case-by-case basis, meaning the absence of recognition cases reflects either no applications from graduates over the past five years or applications that were submitted but not approved. The ministry said it does not have detailed data on how many applications were rejected.

“At this point, the only realistic option for delisted universities is to continue providing a quality education, allowing graduates to apply for degree recognition on their return to China,” said Shin Mee-kyung, director of the Educational Globalization Division at the Ministry of Education.

While 15 Korean universities were removed from the list, seven others were newly added, prompting the ministry to review how those institutions met the criteria for inclusion.

“When such decisions are announced, the ministry’s role is to work closely with Chinese authorities and CSCSE to understand the recognition process and share relevant guidance with universities,” Shin said. “But universities ultimately have to find their own solutions.”

So far, none of the delisted universities has formally sought assistance from the ministry.