The number of junior college students under the age of 20 in South Korea is falling as the school-age population shrinks, while the share of students aged 50 and over is rising rapidly. Analysts say junior colleges are quickly transforming into lifelong education institutions as more adult learners return to campus to change careers or start businesses.
"Junior colleges are now on the front line of lifelong vocational education," Kim Young-do, chairman of the Korean Council for University College Education and president of Dong-eui Institute of Technology, said in an interview with the Seoul Economic Daily on the 4th. "The role of junior colleges should be expanded so that they take charge of vocational education across the entire span of a career." Kim added: "After working 20 years, or 30 at most, on what you first learned, the question becomes what to do next. At a junior college, you can find new work through education or prepare to start a business in a field that generates sufficient income."
The shift in the age profile of junior college freshmen that Kim described is also borne out by the data. According to the council, freshmen aged 50 and over totaled 18,144 this year, up 90.8% from 9,508 in 2022. Their share of all freshmen nearly doubled over the same period, rising to 12.1% from 6.8%. Freshmen under the age of 20, by contrast, fell to 81,937 from 86,020, and their share dropped 6.6 percentage points to 54.8% from 61.4%.
Kim expects college enrollment by adult learners to keep climbing as lifelong education grows in importance. Tuition and other education costs, however, could stand in the way of that trend, he said. "Middle-aged adult learners chose to study in order to find new jobs or start businesses, yet they are excluded from the national scholarship program," Kim said. "Above all, it must be taken into account that adult learners feel the cost of their own education far more heavily than younger students do." He added that junior colleges "are aware of these difficulties and therefore offer more scholarship benefits than they do to regular students, but the burden is real," and called for expanded support at the national level.
The influx of middle-aged and older students into junior colleges has been more pronounced outside the greater Seoul area. The share of freshmen aged 50 and over this year reached 29.0% in both Jeonnam and Gyeongbuk, followed by Busan at 26.6%, Jeonbuk at 22.3%, Daegu at 21.6% and Gangwon at 21.4%. In the capital region, by contrast, the figures were far lower — 0.4% in Seoul, 1.9% in Incheon and 4.9% in Gyeonggi.
Beyond older students, the share of international students at junior colleges is also rising quickly. According to the council, 8,184 foreign students enrolled as freshmen at junior colleges nationwide this year, up 49.1% from 5,489 a year earlier. Applications rose 45.2% to 12,278 from 8,453 over the same period, and the enrollment rate climbed 4.4 percentage points to 94.8% from 90.4%.
Kim stressed that the increase in international students must be tied to labor demand at domestic workplaces to generate synergy. "Students who come here because they want to live in Korea are turning to junior colleges," he said. "Some come directly from abroad to study, but there are also cases in which foreigners already working in Korea enter college, major in a technical field and then find employment again with those skills." He added: "As the foreign workforce grows, it is important to make sure these people properly learn technical skills at junior colleges and find jobs as skilled workers."
Policies to train international students as workers needed in Korea and connect them to employment are also gaining traction. Last year, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Health and Welfare designated 24 colleges as institutions to train foreign care workers, providing education in long-term care, guiding students to certification and linking them to jobs in Korea. Degree programs began in March this year as a pilot project, and 505 international students are currently studying at 21 colleges nationwide.
"Care work requires a great many people, and the domestic workforce alone is not enough," Kim said. "The purpose of the program is to allow foreign students to receive two years of education, obtain certification and then find employment in Korea." He added: "Starting with fields where labor demand is high, such as care work, there is a need to expand the model of training international students as technical talent needed by regional industries. It also appears necessary to create separate scholarship support for international students in strategic occupations with high regional industry demand, linking them to employment and settlement after their education."
