Daekyohyeop Revises Private University Deficit from 2.1 Trillion to 160 Billion Won

[Asia Economy Reporter Tae-min Ryu] The Korea Council for University Education (KCUE) recently corrected an overestimation of approximately 2 trillion won in the deficit scale of private universities nationwide in a report.

The KCUE, a council of four-year universities across the country, issued a correction on the 21st stating that the operating profit and loss of 156 private universities nationwide last year was 155.5 billion won. In the report titled "Analysis of Financial Operation Status of Private Universities" released the previous day, the KCUE had announced that the deficit scale of private universities nationwide last year was 2.1471 trillion won, but corrected this to about one-twentieth of that amount within a day.

The KCUE also corrected an error regarding the chronic deficit period of private universities, initially stating that private universities had suffered from a "chronic deficit" for 10 years since 2012, but later revising it to a deficit for 5 years since 2017. According to the original data, the deficit scale had continuously expanded, recording around 2 trillion won annually since 2015, but the corrected data shows the deficit scale reduced to between 18.9 billion and 206.6 billion won.

The KCUE explained that operating profit and loss is calculated by subtracting operating costs from operating revenue, but in the initial report, the calculation was made using "actual operating revenue," which excluded the amount of national scholarships, causing the error. This means that in the originally released report, the operating revenue of four-year private universities was reduced by about 2 trillion won, the amount of national scholarships.

The KCUE has recently released reports for three consecutive weeks emphasizing the need to expand funding for higher education. These reports mainly highlight the challenging financial situations of universities in response to the government's plan to establish a special account for higher and lifelong education support, stressing the necessity for increased financial support.