[Robert J. Fouser] Misguided university reform plan

Korea Herald

10-07-2025

Over the past several weeks, talk of a promise from President Lee Jae Myung to 'create 10 universities on par with Seoul National University' has stirred debate.
The plan has its origins in a book by Kim Jong-young, a professor at Kyung Hee University, published in 2021. The plan aims at investing heavily in nine regional national universities to raise their 'level' to close to Seoul National University. The impetus for the plan comes from a broader push to promote balanced regional development. Minister of Education nominee Lee Jin-sook is pushing the plan, and it appears to have support in the National Assembly.
But is it a good idea? The idea of promoting balanced regional development goes back 50 years to the 1970s when President Park Chung-hee tried to limit the growth of Seoul north of the Han River.
Most presidents since Park have tried to push balanced regional development, mostly moving government offices and research centers out of Seoul. These efforts may have slowed the pace of concentration in Seoul slightly, but they have not changed the underlying attitudes toward Seoul as the place to be for success.
Until the underlying attitudes change, the idea of promoting regional universities faces strong headwinds because most professors and students would rather be in Seoul. At present, many, if not most, professors at regional universities leave their families in Seoul because of opportunities afforded to their spouses and children. Meanwhile, academically strong students prefer leading private universities in Seoul with a strong alumni network over a regional national university.
Rankings of universities around the world are subjective, but according to the 'Times Higher Education' World University Rankings 2025, among the top 100 universities, only Seoul National University, ranked 62nd, and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, No. 82, made the grade. Sungkyunkwan University and Yonsei University tied at No. 102.
Another established ranking, the QS World University Rankings, is slightly more favorable, showing SNU at 32nd. Yonsei University ranked 50th, while Korea University notched in at 61st. KAIST did not participate in the survey, but Pohang University of Science and Technology, or Postech, came in at 102nd.
Together, these rankings show that targeted investment in regional science and technology universities like KAIST and Postech has made them competitive with SNU. They also show that leading private universities in Seoul are competitive globally. At first glance, the experience of KAIST and Postech suggests that investment in regional national universities could help move up the ladder and possibly compete with SNU and private universities in Seoul.
Such an outcome is highly unlikely.
Apart from the preference for Seoul, the number of professors and researchers leaving leading institutions for posts abroad increased recently, which means that existing institutions could face difficulties in attracting and retaining top-level talent. Regional universities, particularly private ones, face declining enrollments as the population of high school graduates continues to shrink. The flow of international students has slowed, compounding the problem.
In this difficult environment, using universities to promote balanced development stands little chance of success. Instead, the government should focus on increasing the research competitiveness of leading institutions and improving the educational quality of the rest. Leading institutions that have a record of research results should be rewarded with increased funding regardless of their location. If this means that a handful of elite institutions continue to get a large proportion of government funding, then so be it.
University education is about more than research; it's about the larger public purpose of fostering informed and engaged citizens. To do so, universities need to create an environment that promotes learning and encourages student engagement. Achieving these goals amid declining enrollment is difficult if universities are pressed to conform to the larger research university model. Instead, they should downsize and specialize, with a focus on teaching. The government should support those that do this successfully to mitigate that loss of tuition revenue from downsizing.
Together with targeted increases in funding, the government should reduce regulation and promote autonomy among universities. Outdated policies such as tuition freezes and limits on enrollment must go. The same holds true for regulations on hiring and promotion. Universities should be free to set their own priorities and hire and promote professors as they please.
South Korea needs a stronger higher education sector befitting of its international standing, but the proposed plan does little to advance those goals. It should be scrapped in favor of outcome-based funding increases combined with greater institutional autonomy.
Robert J. Fouser, a former associate professor of Korean language education at Seoul National University, writes on Korea from Providence, Rhode Island. He can be reached at [e-mail]. The views expressed here are the writer's own. -- Ed.