New administration's tuition policy may influence future costs

University lecture hall (Getty Images)
University lecture hall (Getty Images)

South Korea’s education expenses have seen their steepest rise since the 2009 global financial crisis, fueled by a surge in university tuition hikes across the country.

According to Statistics Korea, education-related costs rose 2.9 percent year-on-year in March — the highest increase since a 4.8 percent surge in February 2009. This spike contributed 0.21 percentage point to the overall consumer price index, which rose by 2.1 percent over the same period.

Authorities attribute the rise primarily to increases in university tuition at private institutions for the first time in 16 years.

According to the Korea Association of Private University Presidents, 79.5 percent — 120 of 151 — of four-year universities raised their tuition fees in February. Among public and national universities, 11 of 39 (28.2 percent) also chose to raise tuition hikes.

The surge in tuition fees has had a domino effect, pushing up education costs across other sectors. Kindergarten fees rose by 4.3 percent on-year in March, the highest increase in nine years since an 8.4 percent spike in February 2016 — ending a 58-month continuous decline that began in May 2020.

Other education costs also rose sharply, such as fees for e-learning platforms (9.4 percent) and home-study programs (11.1 percent). Among after-school activities, sports classes recorded the highest increase at 3.9 percent, followed by art (2.9 percent) and music (2.2 percent).

Authorities viewed that the recent surge in tuition fees could stoke inflation.

With the end of a 16-year tuition freeze at universities, there is growing concern about a ripple effect that could prompt more institutions that have not yet raised fees to follow the trend.

“Tuition hikes for the first semester of the 2025 academic year will continue to impact inflation until February next year,” said an official from Statistics Korea.

Much will likely depend on the education policy of the incoming administration, following an early presidential election in June, as former President Yoon Suk Yeol was formally removed by the Constitutional Court's ruling on Friday. It was reported that acting President Han Duck-soo on Tuesday would announce the date for the election as June 3.

For over a decade, the government has incentivized tuition freezes through the “Type 2” national scholarship program, which provides funding to universities that maintain their tuition levels. Since 2012, most universities have not increased their tuition to qualify for these subsidies.

However, from this year, many universities facing budget shortfalls have found it more advantageous to raise their tuition fees within the legal limit, which stands at 5.49 percent as of 2025, rather than rely on government aid.

Under the Higher Education Act, universities are prohibited from raising tuition fees by more than 1.5 times the average inflation rate over the past three years. This cap rose from 4.05 percent in 2023 to 5.64 percent in 2024, before falling slightly to 5.49 percent this year.

“If the legal ceiling for tuition hikes is lowered in the coming year, universities may once again lean toward freezing tuition in order to secure scholarship funding. Ultimately, institutional decisions will depend heavily on how the new government sets its policy direction,” said an official from the Education Ministry.


ddd@heraldcorp.com