Free tuition plan for regional schools rattles private colleges

Private universities say a government plan to cover full tuition for every incoming student at 30 national universities outside the capital region will push already struggling schools to the brink, and that it was announced without a single public hearing.

Admissions analysts expect the plan to depress application numbers at private universities in the provinces, and at some in the greater Seoul area, which include Seoul, Gyeonggi and Incheon. 

The Ministry of Education reported the plan — called the regional balance scholarship — to President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday. Payments would begin as early as next year and would not depend on family income. The ministry also said it wanted to extend the scholarships to second, third and fourth-year students later on.

University leaders learned about it from the news.

"It felt like being hit over the head," said a private university president in the Gyeongsang provinces. "How can they suddenly announce a decision this important without gathering any opinions?"

A president at a university in the central region said the timing was the worst part. The early admissions round, in which most Korean universities fill their seats, opens next month.

"Early admissions are right around the corner, and they are handing benefits only to national universities, as if hitting us from behind," the president said. "It amounts to pushing regional private universities that are already withering toward the cliff edge."

An engineering professor at a private university in Seoul said the effect would reach beyond the provinces.

"Even private universities in the capital region with good employment rates could have trouble attracting early applicants," the professor said.

The funding gap between the public and private universities is already wide. Average spending per student at 144 private institutions came to 15.94 million won ($11,200) in 2025, or 8.17 million won below the 24.11 million won at 45 national and public universities, figures from the university disclosure portal Academyinfo show. The comparison covers universities with more than 1,000 enrolled students. National and public universities also averaged 486 full-time faculty last year against 329 at private universities — nearly 50 percent more.

"Tuition controls have kept widening the gap in educational conditions between private and national universities," Hwang In-sung, secretary general of the Korea Association of Private University Presidents, said. "This will be a fatal blow to private universities that are already standing on a tilted playing field."

Song Ki-chang, a professor emeritus of education at Sookmyung Women's University, said the freeze hit spending on teaching first.

"Private universities, where tuition made up 60 to 70 percent of income, had their money tied up year after year, so budgets for things like current textbooks and advanced equipment could do nothing but shrink," Prof. Song said. "Private universities account for more than 80 percent of Korean higher education. If private universities in the provinces die, those regions will empty out faster."

The Korean Professors Union issued a statement on Thursday warning of wider damage.

"If free education is limited to national universities, regional private universities and junior colleges will face even sharper enrollment declines and worse finances," the union said. "It could bring about the collapse of the entire regional higher education ecosystem."

Lee Man-ki, head of the education evaluation research institute at Uway, said resentment among students in the capital region was a risk.

"If student preference for regional national universities rises, application rates could fall somewhat at private universities in the provinces and also in Gyeonggi and Incheon," Lee said. "Students in the capital region have built up complaints about regional talent admissions and the regional doctor quota, and this could add to them."

Others expect a smaller effect.

"The share of students from the provinces who go to a nearby national university and settle there will rise somewhat," said Woo Yeon-cheol, head of the admissions strategy research institute at Jinhaksa. "But I don't think high-achieving students from the capital region whose families are comfortable will choose a regional national university over tuition."

BY KIM MIN-SANG, LEE BO-RAM [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]