Gov't data offers snapshot of Korea's evolving multicultural classrooms

Foreign students take a photo during a graduation ceremony at Dong-A University in Busan, Aug. 21. Yonhap

Just over 253,000 foreign students are enrolled in Korean universities as of this year, up 21.3 percent compared to 2024, the Ministry of Education said Thursday.

The ministry releases annual education statistics every August based on data as of April 1, covering kindergarten through universities, as well as local education offices.

While the overall number of students has declined, the increase in foreign enrollment highlights Korea’s shift toward becoming a more multicultural society and signals broader changes in its higher education system.

This year’s figures showed that more than 179,000 foreign students were enrolled in degree programs, making up 5.9 percent of the total and representing a 22.9 percent increase from a year earlier. Another 74,000 were in nondegree courses such as language training, up 17.5 percent from last year.

In contrast, the number of full-time foreign faculty members declined slightly, to just over 4,300 — a 2.2 percent drop from a year earlier, and accounting for 5 percent of all full-time faculty.

Students at Busan Multicultural International School enjoy a water gun fight in Gangseo District, Busan, Monday. Yonhap

Even as the share of foreign faculty declined, elementary, middle and high schools across the country saw a different demographic shift take shape within their student bodies.

The number of multicultural students in elementary, middle and high schools reached just over 202,000 this year, accounting for 4 percent of the total student population. That was up 4.3 percent compared to 2024.

The figure was nearly 117,000 in elementary schools, down 0.7 percent. Middle schools counted about 51,100, a 6.8 percent increase, while high schools enrolled just over 33,600 for a 21.5 percent surge, the sharpest gain.

By background, children born in Korea to international marriages, where one parent is Korean and the other is foreign, accounted for the largest share, at 67.6 percent. They were followed by children of foreign parents, with both parents non-Korean, at 26.1 percent, and children from international marriages who moved to Korea later at 6.3 percent.

Vietnam made up the largest share by parents’ nationality at 31.3 percent. It was followed by China, excluding ethnic Koreans, at 26.3 percent, and the Philippines at 8.3 percent.

Amid Korea’s declining birthrate, the overall number of schools, students and teachers has decreased.

The student population in kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools dropped 2.3 percent from a year earlier to about 5.55 million.

By category, kindergarten enrollment fell 3.4 percent to nearly 482,000, while elementary schools saw a 6 percent drop to about 2.35 million. High school enrollment slipped 0.4 percent to about 1.3 million. In contrast, middle schools gained 2.8 percent to about 1.37 million.

The total number of kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools nationwide stood at around 20,400 this year, down 106 from a year earlier.

Looking closer, the number of kindergartens fell by 153 to just over 8,100, the steepest decline. Elementary schools edged up to nearly 6,200, while middle schools rose to about 3,300 and high schools to just under 2,400.

The number of teachers stood at around 506,100, down 0.6 percent from a year earlier.

By school level, there were just over 55,200 teachers in kindergartens, a little more than 193,100 in elementary schools, around 116,000 in middle schools and just over 128,300 in high schools.

Compared to the previous year, the figure fell 0.3 percent in kindergartens, 1.8 percent in elementary schools and 0.9 percent in high schools. Middle schools, by contrast, saw a 1.1 percent increase.

Korea’s fertility rate has shown a slight rebound recently but remains the lowest in the world. The country’s total fertility rate rose to 0.75 last year, up 0.03 from the previous year. Still, the figure is only about half the OECD average of 1.5 as of 2022.