National Key Public Universities Freeze Undergraduate Tuition Fees This Year

Sharing the Burden Amid Difficult Economic Conditions
Considering High Exchange Rates and Inflation

Busan National University (President Choi Jae-won), along with nine other national flagship universities including Kangwon National University, Kyungpook National University, Gyeongsang National University, Chonnam National University, Jeonbuk National University, Jeju National University, Chungnam National University, and Chungbuk National University, has decided to freeze undergraduate tuition fees for the 2025 academic year.

Currently, national flagship universities and other national universities have had their tuition fees frozen for 16 years, resulting in significant financial difficulties in education and research. Despite these challenges, they have made the difficult decision to maintain the tuition freeze. This decision reflects a magnanimous resolution to share the burdens of the public and students who are suffering from the current high exchange rates and inflation.

Even with the tuition freeze, universities have committed to making strenuous budget-saving efforts to ensure that the quality of education and research does not decline.

At the video conference of the National Flagship University Presidents' Council held on the morning of the 10th, the presidents decided to request the government’s policy and financial support to realize the per-student education cost at the level of Seoul National University, so that regional universities can contribute to balanced regional development and secure global competitiveness. They also expressed the opinion that if such support is not provided in the future, tuition increases will be inevitable from the following year.

Additionally, there have been complaints that the ‘amount of scholarships awarded,’ which is used as an indicator in university evaluations announced by the media, only considers scholarships paid within the tuition range. National universities, whose tuition is only about half that of private universities, are receiving unfavorable evaluation results because their scholarship amounts are lower compared to private universities.

The presidents of the national flagship universities stated, “Considering the difficult economic situation of the government and the public, we have made this difficult decision after in-depth consultations,” and added, “We ask for the government’s active financial support so that national universities can maintain the public nature of higher education, contribute to regional development, and secure global-level competitiveness.”