Yonsei University Seoul Campus scenery. /Courtesy of Yonsei University

At least 13 universities nationwide have decided to raise undergraduate tuition this year or are in serious discussions about it.

The government is attempting to employ both a carrot and stick approach to freeze tuition fees, but universities are showing signs of raising tuition despite the authorities' sanctions.

According to the College Information System on the 12th, among the 199 universities nationwide excluding cyber universities, as of the 10th, the minutes of meetings regarding undergraduate tuition for the 2025 academic year have been posted by a total of 19 institutions. Among them, 12 have confirmed plans to increase tuition or are carefully considering whether to raise it.

Kookmin University discussed a tuition increase at a meeting on the 26th of last month and voted on a 4.9% increase on the 2nd. Kyonggi Hanshin University has decided on a 5.3% increase, while Seoul Theological University has internally decided on a tuition increase of approximately 3.687% to 3.692%.

In addition, at the meeting regarding tuition increases, opinions were expressed by commissioners from 9 universities including ▲Sungkyunkwan University ▲Sookmyung Women's University ▲Yonsei University ▲Kyunghee University ▲Hongik University ▲Sangmyung University ▲Dongduk Women's University ▲Busan Silla University ▲Gyeongbuk Kyungwoon University. Sogang University has not yet posted related minutes, but held a meeting on the 26th of last month where it decided to increase tuition by 4.85%. Combined, this brings the total to 13 universities.

Typically, universities hold meetings at the end of January to decide tuition for the next academic year, so it is presumed that many universities that have yet to post their meeting minutes have already entered deliberation.

On the other hand, the government has maintained a freeze on tuition for 17 years from 2009 to this year. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Lee Joo-ho sent a letter to university presidents nationwide at the end of last month, requesting that tuition also be frozen this year to alleviate students' financial burdens.

So far, the majority of universities have not raised tuition for over a decade in line with the government's freeze policy. The inability to receive National Treasury Scholarship Type II support if tuition is raised is also cited as a reason.

However, for several years now, there have been movements, mainly among private universities, to raise tuition despite the government's freeze policy. According to the Korean Council for University Education, 19 universities increased tuition for the 2023 academic year, and 26 universities did so for the 2024 academic year.

Last year, primarily small universities that did not receive financial support from the government raised tuition; this year, however, the signs of tuition increases are mainly seen in major private universities in Seoul. It is believed that the additional revenue from raising tuition can have a more positive effect on the financial health of the institution than the amount temporarily lost in National Scholarship Type II support.

Nevertheless, the government continues to request that universities participate in alleviating the burden of tuition while monitoring their trends. The Ministry of Education held a video conference with the council of national universities on the 8th and reiterated its call for a tuition freeze. Nine national universities decided to freeze tuition on the 10th.