124 Universities Raise Tuition Fees This Year... 4 Out of 10 Increase by Over 5%

124 universities nationwide have decided to raise undergraduate tuition fees.

According to the Korea Association of Private University Presidents (KAPUP) on the 11th, out of 190 universities nationwide (151 private and 39 national/public), 124 universities, accounting for 65.3%, raised tuition fees this year.

Among private universities, 114 universities, or 75.5%, increased tuition fees. By region, 55 out of 64 universities (85.9%) in the metropolitan area and 59 out of 87 universities (67.8%) in non-metropolitan areas raised tuition fees.

Among national/public universities, 10 universities, accounting for 25.7% of the total, raised tuition fees. In the metropolitan area, 3 out of 8 universities (37.5%) and in non-metropolitan areas, 7 out of 31 universities (22.6%) increased tuition fees.

Universities that froze tuition fees accounted for 50 universities, or 26.3% of the total. Among these, 23 were private universities and 27 were national/public universities.

There were 16 universities that had not yet decided whether to raise tuition fees.

The most common increase rate was 5.00?5.49%, with 53 universities (42.8%). Eight universities (5 private and 3 national/public) raised tuition fees up to the 5.49% cap set by the Ministry of Education this year. Since raising tuition fees results in restrictions on government scholarship Type II national funding regardless of the increase rate, it is analyzed that universities set a high increase rate to offset disadvantages.

Next were 51 universities (41.1%) with a 4.00?4.99% increase, and 8 universities (6.5%) with a 3.00?3.99% increase. The 2.00?2.99% and 1.00?1.99% ranges each accounted for 2 universities (1.6%).

Additionally, KAPUP disclosed the average tuition fees of universities last year.

The average annual tuition fee per student for the 2024 academic year was 6,827,000 KRW. Private universities averaged 7,629,000 KRW, and national/public universities averaged 4,211,000 KRW.

In the metropolitan area, the average was 7,686,000 KRW, while in non-metropolitan areas it was 6,274,000 KRW.

The highest average tuition fee by major was in the medical field at 9,843,000 KRW, followed by arts and physical education (7,828,000 KRW), engineering (7,277,000 KRW), natural sciences (6,875,000 KRW), and humanities and social sciences (6,003,000 KRW).

By tuition fee range, the 7.01?8.00 million KRW range had the most universities with 81 (42.6%). The lowest range, under 2 million KRW, included 3 universities, and the highest range, over 8 million KRW, included 22 universities.