Promotion to Allow Screen Golf and Large Cafes and Restaurants on University Campuses

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[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] The Ministry of Education is promoting a plan to allow the installation of large cafes, restaurants, and screen golf facilities on university campuses to support universities facing financial difficulties.

An official from the Ministry of Education stated on the 8th, "We are preparing a plan to expand the facilities that can be installed on university campuses, such as large cafes, restaurants, and screen golf centers," adding, "The specific plan will be announced in the second half of this year after consultations with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and amendments to related laws."

The facilities that can be installed on university campuses are limited by Article 90, Paragraph 1 of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Ordinance on the Decision, Structure, and Installation Standards of Urban and Rural Planning Facilities, which allows food, miscellaneous goods, clothing, and bookstore sales outlets with a total floor area of less than 1,000㎡, electric vehicle charging stations, and restaurants, cafes, and bakeries under 300㎡.

The Ministry of Education is currently consulting with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to allow the installation of restaurants, cafes, and bakeries over 300㎡, electric vehicle charging stations over 1,000㎡, screen golf facilities, and data centers on campuses.

This deregulation of university facilities is part of the Ministry of Education's "University Regulation Innovation Policy," aimed at enabling universities facing financial difficulties to increase income sources beyond tuition fees.

However, according to the Korea Private School Promotion Foundation, the Ministry of Education's auxiliary income for 192 four-year private universities nationwide in 2021 was 857.9 billion KRW, accounting for only 4.6% of total income, indicating that even if convenience facilities increase, the likelihood of resolving universities' financial difficulties is low.

More than half of university income structure, 53.5%, comes from tuition fees, and the government has effectively induced a tuition freeze for 14 years by linking tuition fee changes to Type 2 national scholarship support.