The certification evaluation system in Korea for managing international students in domestic universities is being revised. The current method of calculating the rate of illegal stay among international students based on newly enrolled students will be improved by using the ‘enrollment basis’ and diversifying the ways in which language proficiency is verified. The Ministry of Education announced that a public hearing on the proposed revision of the ‘4th cycle (2025-2028) Education Internationalization Capacity Certification System’ will be held on the 22nd and 25th of this month at the Korea Research Foundation offices in Daejeon and Seoul. The aim is to reduce the administrative burden on universities caused by excessive evaluation indicators and to ensure that the university’s characteristics are reflected by reducing the number of evaluation indicators and improving them in a reasonable manner.
Since 2012, the Ministry of Education has been implementing the ‘Education Internationalization Capacity Certification System (Internationalization Certification System)’ to address issues of illegal stay among foreign international students and enhance the internationalization capacity of universities. Universities that pass the assessment are designated as certified universities and are granted benefits such as visa screening assistance. Universities with high rates of illegal stay among international students or inadequate language proficiency levels are restricted from issuing visas, based on surveys of foreign international students.
The revision plan includes separating the evaluation of regular universities and vocational colleges. A separate set of evaluation indicators for ‘Higher Vocational Education Internationalization Capacity’ will be established for vocational colleges, and evaluations will be conducted separately for regular universities. The evaluation indicators will be adjusted to reflect the characteristics of vocational colleges, including incorporating ‘efforts in industry-academic cooperation’ into the ‘academic support’ indicator. Additionally, the indicators for foreign international students, such as ‘tuition burden rate’ and ‘dropout rate,’ will be reduced from 80% to 70% and from less than 6-8% to less than 7-9%, respectively.
On the other hand, student management for international students at universities will be strengthened. Measures will be taken to ensure that face-to-face class ratios are at least 50% to enhance academic management for international students. A new indicator will be established for students in long-term language training programs that require TOPIK level 2 proficiency. Universities that are found to significantly violate regulations or undermine the purpose of certification may be designated as universities subject to enhanced visa screening for up to three years.
The Ministry of Education aims to support academic adaptation and regional settlement by including information related to ‘local business employment support’ in the ‘International Student Life and Career Support’ indicator to foster talent tailored to local needs. The language proficiency standards for new international students will be gradually strengthened, with the proof of language proficiency requirement increased from the existing 30% to 40%.
Following the public hearings, the proposed revisions for the 4th cycle will be finalized through deliberation by the Education Internationalization Capacity Certification Committee and are expected to be implemented from next year.
The number of foreign international students in Korea has been steadily increasing. As of last year, there were 181,842 students, an increase of 14,950 compared to the previous year. The nationality of international students in Korea as of 2023 was predominantly Chinese at 68,065 students, followed by Vietnam with 43,361 students, Uzbekistan with 14,099 students, Mongolia with 13,750 students, and Japan with 5,850 students.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eui-ho stated, “Based on the ‘Study Korea 300K Project’ announced in August last year, we aim to establish a cooperation system between local governments, universities, and companies to attract needed overseas talent to regions.” He added, “Through the revision of the Education Internationalization Capacity Certification System and the survey of foreign international student recruitment and management practices, we will actively support domestic universities in attracting outstanding foreign international students and strengthen quality management to enhance the international credibility of Korean education.”