[Opinion] It’s Time to Close Failing Universities

Failing universities have become a major headache for our society. As the school-age population declines, universities that are no longer chosen by students have fallen into the category of failing institutions. The Ministry of Education imposes sanctions on universities that receive poor evaluations and orders them to improve their structure autonomously, but there is little sign that these universities have any real chance of improving.

The number of unfilled university seats has reached 40,586, the highest level on record. As many as 27 universities are unable to fill even half of their enrollment quota. The Ministry of Education hastily announced that it would invest funding over three years to reduce university enrollment quotas, but it has not even set a concrete target for how much to cut. It has even announced that it will rescue universities that had previously been placed on its blacklist, raising doubts about the policy’s effectiveness.

The Ministry of Education assesses universities based on criteria such as educational conditions, employment rates, and enrollment rates, and imposes disadvantages such as suspending general financial support and tuition support when institutions fall below the standard. However, even when a university is designated as failing, it is removed from the list if the head of the relevant local government or a member of the National Assembly protests strongly. Despite the continuing decline in the school-age population, the government also approved the establishment of KEPCO Engineering School with a budget of 1.6 trillion won.

Failing universities are causing numerous social side effects. At some of these institutions, university officials are creating ghost students by bringing in acquaintances and relatives to artificially boost freshman enrollment rates. They are also being used as vehicles for private school corruption and embezzlement. When these universities become insolvent, the damage falls entirely on local communities and students. We must no longer stand by and tolerate their behavior.

What is needed now are concrete and bold measures. The Ministry of Education should set specific reduction targets and, rather than spreading cuts loosely across universities, it should decisively cut off financial support to failing institutions so that they themselves feel a real sense of urgency and carry out structural reform. The Ministry should consult with the legislature and other administrative bodies to establish institutional procedures for dealing with failing universities.

Rather than simply forcing them out, alternatives should also be presented to the universities in question. If universities designated for closure are given other avenues—such as conversion into lifelong education centers or welfare corporations, or permission to change the use of university land—they may also be more willing to cooperate. Measures for currently enrolled students must also be prepared. When a university shuts down, its students face interruption of their studies. National scholarships and student loans are also restricted. It is also necessary to make prospective students aware of failing universities and to create ways for students currently enrolled in such institutions to continue studying their majors through transfer.

If failing universities want to keep their schools alive, they must actively demonstrate a willingness to reform. Rather than relying on superficial promotional campaigns aimed at applicants, professors and university administrators must take the lead in enhancing each institution’s qualitative competitiveness by improving educational standards and establishing departments in high-demand fields. Measures are also needed to strengthen the public accountability and transparency of failing universities.

University structural reform is no longer a task that can be postponed. If the current situation continues, the deterioration of education will deepen and the training of talented people will fall behind. Through institutional reform, the government must weed out universities with no prospect of improvement and give breathing room to those that are pursuing self-reliance. It is now time to make universities more competitive and cultivate them into true “halls of learning.”

Jinwoo Lee, Intern Researcher, Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

---

Original title: [자유발언대]부실대학, 이제는 정리해야

Author: Jin-woo Lee

Date: 2022-11-18

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=free_opinion&pn=7&idx=25087