A corporate ‘in-house graduate school’ that can train master's and doctoral talents directly will open this year's second semester. The first in-house graduate school is expected to be the 'LG Artificial Intelligence (AI) Graduate School.'
The government plans to support small and medium-sized corporations in developing and operating educational programs so that advanced talents can be nurtured. It is expected that a cooperative system between industry and academia will materialize, allowing graduates to be deployed directly to the field.
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 10th, the government plans to receive approval applications for in-house graduate schools from corporations starting on the 17th following the implementation of the 'Advanced Industry Talent Innovation Special Law (Advanced Talent Law).' The Ministry of Education is expected to evaluate the applicants' faculty and financial plans before deciding on approval.
The Advanced Talent Law is a regulation that specifies that advanced industry corporations can operate lifelong education facilities in the form of in-house graduate schools. Until now, there have only been in-house universities that officially grant bachelor's degrees in the country, but legal grounds have been established for the establishment of in-house graduate schools that grant master's and doctoral degrees. Both large corporations and small and medium-sized corporations can apply for the establishment of in-house graduate schools.
The Advanced Talent Law passed the National Assembly plenary session on Dec. 20, 2023, and was promulgated on Jan. 16 of last year. Since then, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has prepared an enforcement decree of the Advanced Talent Law to establish basic installation and operation standards for in-house graduate schools.
According to the enforcement decree, the government will provide separate support for the establishment of in-house graduate schools for small and medium-sized corporations. The initial draft of the enforcement decree released in October last year included all small and medium-sized corporations as beneficiaries, but following the Legislative Affairs Office's advice that 'there should be clear criteria for support beneficiaries,' the criteria were changed in December last year to 'corporations with an average revenue of less than 1 trillion won over the last three years.'
A Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy official noted, 'We established criteria to encompass as many corporations as possible in accordance with the intent of the bill to support small and medium-sized corporations,' adding that 'the aim is to attract talent to small and medium-sized corporations through support for the development and operation of educational programs.'
The government plans to encourage corporations to apply for approval, aiming to open the in-house graduate school in this year's second semester. If the in-house graduate school opens as scheduled, it is expected that professionals in advanced industrial fields will teach students directly, enabling them to be ready for deployment in the field.
Existing graduate schools have faced criticism for being behind in educational levels compared to the pace of advanced technology development, making it challenging to deploy graduates to the field immediately. In contrast, the Advanced Talent Law stipulates that anyone with a degree higher than a bachelor’s, who is qualified as a technical engineer or skilled master, or has worked for over 10 years in a specific industrial field, can become a professor at an in-house graduate school.
According to government officials, the most likely candidate for the 'first in-house graduate school' appears to be LG Group's 'LG AI Graduate School.' LG has operated its own AI graduate school, which is unable to grant official master's and doctoral degrees. Given that it is already in operation, the preparation period for approval is expected to be shorter than for other corporations.
A government official stated, 'In addition to the opening of in-house graduate schools, we are supporting industry-academic cooperation through the operation of advanced industry academies,' adding that 'we will also continue to promote the establishment of specialized graduate schools in four fields: semiconductors, batteries, bio, and displays.'