As tuition hikes continue at many private universities ahead of the new semester, major university student councils said the operation of the Tuition Deliberation Committee is undemocratic and called for government-level institutional reforms.
The National University General Student Council Coalition Joint Action (Joint Action) held a press conference on the 2nd in front of U-PLEX at the Hyundai Department Store Sinchon branch in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, saying, "The undemocratic process of deciding tuition can no longer be viewed as a temporary phenomenon limited to individual universities or to universities belonging to a particular coalition," and made this claim.
Joint Action said, "Many private universities are confirming tuition increases of around 3% again this year following last year," and added, "For students, more than the figure of 3%, the cumulative and repeated increases are creating a much heavier burden."
It continued, "As mechanisms that had curbed tuition hikes, such as the decoupling of National Scholarship Program Type II, weaken, tuition increases are spreading into a nationwide problem," and noted, "While hikes are repeated on the grounds of university finances and autonomy alone, the burden is being passed on first and directly to students."
Representatives of student councils from 20 major private universities, including Korea University, Yonsei University, Sogang University, Ewha Womans University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Kyunghee University, Konkuk University, Dongduk Women's University, Inha University, and Ajou University, attended the press conference.
They argued that there are many cases where the Tuition Deliberation Committee, which reviews and votes on whether to raise tuition, is reduced to a formality or is run according to the unilateral judgment of the university administration.
Hwang In-seo, acting chair of the Yonsei University student council emergency committee, said, "The school pushed through an undemocratic vote to fill the school's coffers from students' pockets by putting forward experts it unilaterally appointed," and added, "Under the pretext of the administration's 'classified' label, students do not even know where the increased amount will be used."
Jeong Ye-jin, president of the Ewha Womans University student council, cited a case in which a tuition hike plan passed the committee in about 30 seconds last month and said, "Citing outside engagements, the president replied that students would only be met after (tuition) bills are issued."
The National Council of University Student Associations (Jeonchonghyeop), which includes the student councils of about 100 universities nationwide, said that its own survey of 91 private universities found that 85 (93.4%) had confirmed tuition hikes or were proceeding with the committee on the premise of increases.
A survey by the Korean Council for University Education for Private Universities (Sachonghyeop) also showed that, as of the end of last month, only 37 schools—10 private and 27 national and public—had decided to freeze tuition, leading to projections that the trend of tuition hikes will continue, centered on private universities.