The Education Ministry has remodeled the state scholarship program to ensure that the benefits go to those who actually need them, officials said Monday.

The state college scholarship program provides financial support to students based on their family’s economic level, with less wealthy students entitled to more money. The previous system to determine household wealth was based on income and assets like real estate and cars, without taking into account factors such as pensions, financial assets and debts.

Starting this year, the previously excluded factors will be included in the wealth evaluation, said an official from the ministry’s Scholarship and Financial Aid Division. “As a result, we will be able to prevent the benefits from going to students from wealthy families and instead concentrate the financial aid on the people in need,” he said.

Potential beneficiaries will be sorted into 10 groups based on their household wealth, and all but those in the two highest wealth brackets will be eligible for the program.

About 1.2 million students ― a little less than half the total number of college students in Korea ― have benefited from the program, the officials said. They said a similar number of students are expected to receive scholarships this year, but more money will be handed out.

Some 1.54 trillion won ($1.43 billion) will be provided in scholarships for the first semester of this year, up from 1.37 trillion won in 2014. The maximum amount of money a student can receive is 4.8 million won, which is earmarked for those in the lowest bracket.

It is also possible for students who are not granted a scholarship to challenge the decision.

“Previously, we could not make inquiries about … household wealth. But the recent law revision has provided legal grounds for us to do so,” the ministry official said.

The inherent problem with the new system, however, is that it may potentially penalize families who have financial assets, but do not have sufficient monthly income. In some of the cases provided by the ministry, students had moved across three or four groups.

The ministry did not release information on how many households would be placed in the different wealth groups due to the changes.

Applicants for the program can find out which wealth group they fall under on the Korea Student Aid Foundation’s website starting Tuesday, and will personally be notified of the results between Tuesday and Thursday. Those wishing to challenge the results will have two weeks to do so.

The state scholarship program has been the backbone of President Park Geun-hye’s “half-price tuition” policy. She has claimed that through the 3.9 trillion won pumped into the program and other government subsidies, along with 3.1 trillion won in financial aid from the ministry, the burden of college tuition will be halved.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)