[Viewpoint] Universities Are No Longer "Great Learning" Institutions

Song Ki-chang, Professor, Department of Education, Sookmyung Women’s University

Last month, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released the "2021 Education Indicators." South Korea's ratio of public education expenditure to gross domestic product (GDP) exceeded the OECD average. The problem lies only in the fact that the private burden rate is high and the government burden rate is low compared to other countries. Still, it has improved significantly compared to about ten years ago.

On the other hand, the per-student education expenditure by school level is a serious issue. Not only is the level of university student education expenditure significantly lower than that of other countries, but it is also lower than that of elementary and middle school students. There are only nine countries where university education expenditure is lower than ours: Poland, Latvia, Turkey, Lithuania, Russia, Chile, Mexico, Greece, and Colombia. It is a worrisome situation that our university education level could soon deteriorate to the level of these countries. Elementary and middle school students spent 131% and 134% of the OECD average, respectively, but university students spent only 66%. This is based on 2018 statistics, and the gap will likely widen when this year's statistics are reported.

The per-student education expenditure by school level was $12,535 for elementary students, $13,775 for middle school students, $16,024 for high school students, and $11,290 for university students. University education expenditure was only 90% of that for elementary students, 82% of middle school students, and 70% of high school students. Traditionally, education costs increase from elementary to secondary to university levels, which is normal considering the level of education. However, in our case, university education expenditure is lower not only than that of middle and high school students but also lower than that of elementary students. Only Colombia and Greece spend less on university students than on elementary students, and the OECD average university education expenditure is 179% of that for elementary students, whereas ours is 90%. Universities are no longer "Daehak (大學)"?meaning "great learning." In the future, universities might have to be called "Sohak (小學)"?meaning "small learning." Legally, the standards for securing university campuses, buildings, and faculty are much higher than those for elementary and secondary schools. Spending less on education means failing to meet establishment standards. A university worse off than an elementary school?that is the current state of our universities.

Why did this result occur? While elementary and secondary school finances are stably secured through local education finance grants, which are a fixed percentage of domestic tax revenue, university finances have been in a critical state due to a 13-year freeze on tuition fees, and government support varies annually depending on budget conditions. The policy to halve tuition fees has effectively become a policy to halve education quality.

Graduation credit requirements, offered courses, extracurricular programs, facility investment costs, research funds, book purchases, laboratory practice fees, and administrative operating costs have all been reduced. To make matters worse, the decline in the school-age population and university structural reforms have led to reduced admission quotas and lower freshman enrollment rates. Faculty and staff salaries have also been cut or frozen for a long time. Only tuition scholarships, which the Ministry of Education prevents from being reduced, have not decreased.

Following the August 3, 1972 measure, the legal grant rate for local education finance was suspended, cutting elementary and secondary education finances for ten years. As a result, overcrowded classes and double-shift classes rapidly increased, and teacher turnover rates soared. From 1982, an education tax was introduced to improve educational conditions and teacher treatment, but it took more than 20 years to recover. To raise the declining level of university education caused by tuition freezes and government neglect, a strenuous policy effort, including the introduction of a higher education finance grant system, is necessary. Although it has become a situation where it is difficult to stop the problem with a hoe when it should have been stopped with a rake, can we really give up on university education?

Song Ki-chang, Professor, Department of Education, Sookmyung Women’s University