Ministry of Education Initiates Development of New Private Education Cost Survey Model
"Increased Private Education Costs for Repeat Exam Takers" Highlighted
Statistics on private education expenses for so-called ‘N-su students,’ who attempt the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) and college admissions more than twice, will be developed. The statistics will cover repeat test-takers, students who take a break from college to reattempt admissions (ban-su students), and those who attempt college admissions three or more times. The Ministry of Education announced on the 7th that it has commissioned a research project to develop a survey model for private education expenses of N-su students.
The Ministry of Education plans to entrust the research to an external institution by the end of November and then review the survey system designed in the study before directly conducting a pilot survey on private education expenses for N-su students next year. The core tasks include accurately defining N-su students, analyzing their characteristics, developing a survey response form for private education expenses, and conducting a sample survey.
The Ministry of Education’s move to develop statistics on private education expenses for N-su students comes in response to concerns that the number of N-su students is increasing and their private education expenses are also rising, necessitating an accurate diagnosis. The development of these statistics can later serve as a basis for policies aimed at reducing the private education expense burden on N-su students.
Every year, the Ministry of Education, together with Statistics Korea, surveys and publishes statistics on private education expenses for elementary, middle, and high school students, but N-su students are excluded from this. The exact amount of money they invest in the CSAT and college admissions is not known. However, it is estimated that reattempting college admissions involves considerable costs, as the monthly tuition fee at a cram school in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, is known to be at least 2 to 3 million KRW.
Considering that cram schools for repeat test-takers usually start classes in mid-January, N-su students spend about 20 to 30 million KRW on tuition fees over 10 months until the CSAT in mid-November. Costs are even higher for dormitory-style cram schools.
The proportion of test-takers who are graduates has been steadily increasing over the past three years since the 2022 academic year. The number of high school students taking the CSAT decreased from 444,873 (74.9% of all test-takers) in the 2018 academic year to 326,646 (64.7%) in the 2024 academic year, while the number of graduates taking the test increased from 137,533 (23.2%) to 159,742 (31.7%) during the same period. Last year’s CSAT recorded the highest proportion of graduates in 27 years since the 1997 academic year (32.5%).
However, there are also expectations that developing these statistics will not be an easy task. In the case of private education expenses for elementary, middle, and high school students, the target group is clear, so surveying parents quickly reveals private education expenses. But the definition of N-su students itself varies. Moreover, it is difficult to identify N-su students who study alone at home through online lectures as survey targets. There are also issues such as whether to include those who prepare for the CSAT again while working.
The Ministry of Education intends to use various analytical methods such as individual surveys and focus group interviews (FGI), and to conduct comparative analysis with private education expense surveys for elementary, middle, and high school students to develop accurate and consistent statistics. A Ministry of Education official said, “We have already applied for the related budget to the budget authorities for next year’s pilot survey and plan to discuss with Statistics Korea to carry out the survey. We will conduct sample surveys in this research and develop a reliable statistical survey method for N-su students.”
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