A tuition-free software school is accepting applications from prospective students from Nov. 28 through Dec. 12, with the academic center slated to open in March, according to NHN officials on Wednesday.

Named “NHN Institute for the Next Network,” the software school, supported by the operator of the country’s largest portal Naver, is expected to become a cradle of “the next software culture,” its officials said.

The institution registered under the Ministry of Knowledge Economy aims to nurture talent in humanities, software and user interface development, design and business philosophy.

NHN will aid the school with a total of 100 billion won ($920 million) for the first 10 years so that all enrolled students can take courses completely free of charge. Each student will also be provided with personal laptops, work space and other necessary facilities.

The software school will accept 120 applicants every year, and offers a 2-and-half-year curriculum that is operated on the tri-semester system. The last six months will be an internship period, where students can use what they’ve learned in the real world.

NHN said it was determined to establish a professional education institute to cherish and develop the values and experience that “software-culture for and by the people” can yield.

The next generation software culture will only advance with sufficient enlightenment, or learning, NHN said.

The internet portal company decided that the emergence of software knowledge and the humanities is the priority for the next era.

“We established NHN Next because we believe that the future of the software industry lies in the software that ordinary people can use every day, everywhere,” said spokeswoman Lee So-young of NHN Next Institute for the Next Network.

“The software we have these days, like search engines, portals, games, social network services, and cloud services, is more than just a product cranked out in factories,” Lee said, stressing the secondary effects of software ― the software culture and worldview.

Until now, the existing curriculum for software studies had revolved around developing software products, according to NHN. While the software for corporate use focused only on productivity and efficiency, the software for personal users applies to a much broader range, the real lives of thousands of million people around the world.

“With smartphones and other personal computing environment factors emerging, we are now living in a world dominated by software that is designed for the majority, non-expert users,” Lee said.

NHN Institute for the Next Network is located in Pangyo Techno Valley, only about 15 minutes away from Gangnam, Seoul, where leading software technology and development firms including NC Soft, Nexon, Neowiz and Ahn Lab, abound.

The tech education institute will be able to benefit from a variety of academic, industrial and infrastructural collaboration with these firms, NHN said.

By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)