The Ministry of Education announced a set of plans to restrict the increase in college tuition fees to no more than 4.7 percent next year to counter rising education costs that have contributed substantially to the nation’s heavy household debt. The government’s measure is expected to induce universities to freeze or lower their tuition fees next year, officials said. The state limit on tuition fee hikes was 5 percent this year and 5.1 year in 2011.

College tuition fees have increased at almost double the inflation rate over the last five years. In 2010, the average college tuition was 7.5 million won for private schools and 5 million won for public schools.

President-elect Park Geun-hye vowed to reduce the financial burden on rising education costs by increasing government support to provide scholarships for low-income families and lowering interest rates on student loans to near zero percent.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)