The Ministry of Education has selected six universities that operate outstanding models for supporting foreign students in employment, entrepreneurship, and regional settlement. The move aims to spread cases of nurturing settlement-oriented talent linked to regional industries, going beyond merely attracting international students.
The ministry announced the results of the "2026 Competition for Outstanding Universities in Foreign Student Employment and Startups" on the 27th, selecting two grand-prize winners and four excellence-award winners. The grand prizes went to Kyung Hee University in the four-year university category and Jeonju Vision College in the junior college category, while the excellence awards were given to Kangwon National University, Kyungsung University, Chungnam National University, and Kyungbok University. A total of 27 entries were submitted for the competition, including 20 from four-year universities and seven from junior colleges.
The ministry comprehensively evaluated universities' cases of supporting foreign students across the fields of employment support, startup support, settlement support, and global network building, assessing factors such as strategic value, specificity, effectiveness, and potential for expansion.
Kyung Hee University, which won the grand prize in the four-year university category, was recognized for introducing a core competency certification system for foreign students (KHU-PASS). The system operates step-by-step programs ranging from academic adjustment to career planning and job preparation, and issues digital badges that allow students to use their completion records in job-seeking activities.
Jeonju Vision College, the grand-prize winner in the junior college category, was highly rated for cooperating with local governments to operate an overseas Saemangeum Korean language school and provide pre-education in Korean language and culture to attract outstanding students, as well as for building a system to support employment and regional settlement in connection with local businesses.
The excellence-award winners — Kangwon National University, Kyungsung University, Chungnam National University, and Kyungbok University — also presented models to support foreign students' employment and regional settlement through education tailored to regional industry demand, industry-academia cooperation, cooperation with local governments, and overseas network building.
"Through foreign student policies, we must nurture talent needed by regional industries and expand support so these individuals can settle stably into local communities," Vice Minister of Education Choi Eun-ok said. "We will actively support the establishment of a sustainable ecosystem for foreign student employment and settlement in which regions, universities, and businesses grow together, by spreading the outstanding cases discovered in this competition to universities nationwide."
