Changwon Special City to Provide 1 Million Won to Local University Freshmen

Applications Open in March, 500,000 Won Paid in Each Half of the Year
“Fostering Local Talent and Strengthening the Settlement Base”

Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam is fully launching the “2026 Changwon Freshmen Allowance Program” to ease the financial burden on local university freshmen and to support the stable settlement of local talent.

Changwon Special City Hall, Gyeongnam. Photo by Lee Seryeong

The Changwon Freshmen Allowance Program is a youth support policy designed to reduce the burden of living expenses in the early stage of university enrollment and to encourage students to attend universities located in Changwon City.

Eligible applicants are students aged 34 or younger who, after graduating from a high school in Changwon City, are enrolled as first-year students in a university within the city in 2026, and who have been continuously registered as residents in Changwon City for at least one year as of the announcement date. The support amount is 1 million won per person, paid in two installments of 500,000 won each in the first and second halves of the year.

The application period for the first half of the year runs from March 3 to April 30, 2026. Applications can be submitted online via the Government24 website, or by mail or in person. The city plans to finalize the list of beneficiaries in May after an eligibility review, and to provide the first-half allowance of 500,000 won in early June. Additional applications for the second half of the year are scheduled to be accepted between September and October 2026.

Since its initial implementation in 2024, more than 4,000 students have benefited from the Changwon Freshmen Allowance Program through 2025. In a 2025 satisfaction survey of beneficiaries, 97.5% responded that the program helped them cover tuition and living expenses, indicating that it has contributed to substantially easing the economic burden on young people.

Jeong Soon-gil, Director General of Autonomy and Administration at Changwon City, said, “The Freshmen Allowance is a local settlement policy that reduces the financial burden on young people and supports them in planning their studies and future in Changwon,” adding, “We will continue to expand youth support policies so that local talent can learn, grow, and settle down in Changwon.”