| Trends and Issues of the Higher Education Reform Policy in Korea : With Focus on the Regulation on Enrollment Size |
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Kang-Shik Choi, Bokyung Lee |
| 대학정원정책을 중심으로 본 한국의 대학구조개혁정책의 변화와 쟁점 |
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최강식, 이보경 |
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| Abstract |
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the issues on the present Korean government’s university enrollment quota policies in the context of the higher education reform policies which were changed with economic and social environments, and to suggest a desired direction. To figure out the issues, research reports, articles, government’s reports on higher education policies, and statistics from Korean government were analyzed and the trends in government’s policies and changes in and out of universities and implications were drawn.
Thanks to government’s higher education expansion policy induced vast demands, the higher education in Korea grew unprecedently fast in the world, in terms of its enrolment quota and size. Since the mid 2000s, however, the Korean universities have been under strong pressures due to the decrease in the college age population and the growing dissatisfaction with the low quality of higher education as well as the education environments. Recent higher education reform policy in Korea intends to intervene directly into the individual university. Evaluating the plan and outcomes of the structural reform of an each individual university, the government links the amount of fiscal subsidies and the number of enrollments in the university. This policy change, from the previous one which had reinforced competitive advantages of universities through specialization, diversification and autonomy of universities since Kim Young Sam government, are mostly due to the pressure by the local universities and vocational junior colleges, worrying about their sudden collapses and arguing the balanced regional development and equity issues among universities. The policy changes, however, can not be sustainable and may worsen the overall education environment because the new policy contradicts market principle and ignores consumers’ freedom of choices. On top of that, the unanimous reduction in the enrollment seats in every university may seriously exacerbate the financial situation of the university, especially of the private university, heavily relying on the students’ tuition.
The outcomes of the structural reform are determined by the choices of consumers for the higher education, i.e., the society and students. Therefore, for sustainable developments, universities should be allowed to design and carry forward their development paths based on the purpose of establishments and their capacities, and to enhance their competitive advantages. It is desirable for the Korean government to keep consistencies in higher education policies by allowing more discretions to the universities rather than direct interventions. The government should provide with legal and institutional environments and expand the fiscal supports for universities. Universities should make more efforts to fulfill their social responsibility such as providing more opportunities in education for vulnerable groups. |
| Key Words:
Higher Education Reform, Enrollment Quota Regulation, College Age Population Decrease, Competitive Advantage of College, Educational Environment |
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