Vice Minister Oh Seok-hwan said on the 11th, "Universities are experiencing an unprecedented crisis due to the decline in the school-age population," and noted, "To ensure stable financial support, we will pursue an extension of the validity period of the Higher and Lifelong Education Support Special Account (KOTUK)."
On this day, Vice Minister Oh stated at the '3rd Higher Education Finance Innovation Forum' held at Chung-Ang University, "It is a time when building an innovation ecosystem centered around universities is necessary."
The Ministry of Education established the KOTUK in 2023. It utilizes a portion of the education tax revenue allocated for local educational finance at the kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school levels to invest in universities. At that time, the total budget was 9.74 trillion won, which increased to 16.4 trillion won this year.
However, the KOTUK, being a special account, is temporary in its financial support, unlike the educational finance grants. Consequently, universities have argued that budget support must be sustained in light of the declining school-age population.
Vice Minister Oh stated, "To ensure that universities continuously grow in response to the rapidly changing society, stable financial conditions are essential," and added, "We will expand national-level financial support while also broadening university support centered around local governments and assisting universities in diversifying their own revenue. "
He added, "The universities that more than 70% of students attend are the future of those students and the future of Korea," and noted, "We will work to ensure stable financial support so that universities can continue to grow."