Housing Support for 40,000 Low-Income People
Work-Study Scholarships Benefit 200,000 Students
The Korea Student Aid Foundation (Chairman Bae Byungil) announced on the 28th that a budget of 5.7 trillion won for customized national scholarships and other programs managed by the Foundation has been allocated in the government's '2025 Budget Proposal'.
Considering the government's 2025 budget proposal for scholarship and loan programs managed by the Korea Student Aid Foundation, as well as the scale of its own projects (including donations and dormitories), the Foundation's total budget for 2025 is expected to surpass 10 trillion won.
The budget allocated for scholarships in the '2025 Budget Proposal' is 5.3 trillion won, an increase of 600 billion won compared to 2024.
With the expansion of the national scholarship support range from the existing 8 levels to 9 levels, the number of scholarship recipients will increase by 500,000, from 1 million to 1.5 million. As a result, the proportion of university students (2 million in total) eligible for national scholarships will expand from about 50% to 75%. Up to 1 million won per year will be provided to the 500,000 students in the 9th level. In addition, to provide stronger support for multi-child families (three or more children) in the 9th level, up to 1.35 million won per year will be provided for the first and second children, and up to 2 million won for the third child or more.
To enhance university students' employability and support a stable learning environment, the number of beneficiaries of work-study scholarships will be increased by 60,000, from 140,000 to 200,000.
Furthermore, a new housing stability scholarship with a scale of 34 billion won will be established, providing up to 2.4 million won per person annually, and is expected to help reduce housing costs for about 42,000 low-income university students.
Meanwhile, about 400 billion won has been allocated for student loan programs in 2025, and an additional 5 billion won (for 1,000 students) will be newly allocated for science and engineering master's scholarships. In addition, the Lottery Fund Dream Ladder Scholarship, which selects promising low-income elementary and middle school students early and supports them through university, will expand the number of new scholarship recipients by 1,000.
Bae Byungil, Chairman of the Korea Student Aid Foundation, stated, "Expanding the national scholarship to the 9th level for more comprehensive support, and providing not only tuition but also housing support for low-income students, is a symbolic milestone as the Foundation's budget surpasses 10 trillion won. We will continue to do our best to reduce the financial burden of tuition for young people so that everyone can have educational opportunities regardless of their economic circumstances."
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