Universities that fail to meet basic educational standards will find it harder to recruit foreign students, as the number studying in South Korea tops 300,000 this year.
The Ministry of Education said on the 8th that it will shift the focus of policy from expanding enrollment numbers to improving educational quality and cultivating skilled graduates, unveiling an innovation strategy for training foreign students.
The ministry plans to overhaul the International Education Quality Assurance System, which is linked to visa screening, to strengthen universities' capacity to educate and manage foreign students.
Starting in 2029, the ministry will restrict foreign student recruitment at universities that lack basic educational conditions. Institutions will be subject to the restriction if they fail to win accreditation in institutional evaluations — which assess management performance, curriculum, academic administration and student support — or if they are designated as universities in management crisis for two consecutive years in financial diagnoses of private universities. The ministry also plans to select 10 universities a year that have drawn public criticism over problems in educating and managing foreign students and conduct on-site inspections.
The ministry will also revise the evaluation framework of the quality assurance system, converting core indicators related to foreign student education and management into mandatory indicators from 2029. The threshold for Korean and English proficiency indicators will rise in stages from 40% or higher this year to 50% or higher in 2028 and 60% or higher in 2030. To address problems in recruiting students through study-abroad agencies, the ministry will distribute a draft standard agreement between universities and agencies within this year.
Measures needed to protect foreign students will be made mandatory through future revisions to laws and regulations, and the ministry will distribute guidelines on procedures for verifying foreign degrees so that falsified academic credentials can be screened out when students transfer or enroll.
The ministry will also introduce an accreditation program for departments excelling in training overseas talent starting next year, offering financial support and scholarship allocations to departments that organize curricula linked to regional industries and produce results in local employment and settlement of foreign students. Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin said the ministry will "support foreign students so that they can build on their studies and experiences in Korea to thrive in our society and around the world, while further elevating the standing of K-education."
