We regularly provide briefings on trends and developments in South Korea’s education sector for schools who visit our U.S. Education Center or come to Korea in conjunction with a study fair. This blog will link to those briefings, which are usually in powerpoint format.
Since 1984, the Fulbright Commission has served as ETS’s representative in Korea for TOEFL, GRE and other high-stakes academic tests. The Commission has also worked with other major testing organizations including LSAT, SAT, and SSAT, to name a few. The public provision of up-to-date and accurate information about admissions testing is important to the Fulbright mission of promoting educational and intercultural exchange between the United States and Korea. Therefore we take it very seriously. This section of the blog will discuss and invite comments on issues relating to high-stakes educational testing.
It is now reasonably well-known around the world that South Korea is one of the most, if not THE most networked countries in the world. It leads the world in broadband internet infrastructure. That fact, together with a deep seated cultural respect for education, led to the establishment of Cyber-universities here. Initially there were twelve such universities approved by the Ministry of Education, and at present count there are seventeen such institutions. As with the other categories in this blog, we will provide basic information about Korea’s cyber-universities and invite your questions regarding them.
Over the past decade, the number of U.S. Study Fairs held in Korea has increased dramatically. In addition to fairs hosted by such organizations the Linden Tour, the MBA Tour, AIEF or the American Association of Community Colleges, there are also focused efforts such as Study Philadelphia and Destination California. What all U.S. study fairs have in common is that they work with Fulbright’s U.S. Education Center. We provide them with a range of services including hosting of their Korean-language websites, online preregistration, logistics, briefings on the Korean education sector, and onsite services during the fair. This section of the blog will be devoted to outlining the services we offer and answering any questions you might have about them. With the increase in the number of study fairs visiting Korea, we believe that Fulbright has a key role to play in the planning, scheduling and promotion of these events.
Fulbright’s U.S. Education Center is a U.S. State Department -affiliated advising center. The mission of that center is to help promote education in the United States by providing information and advice to Koreans who seek to study there. In keeping with the Fulbright mission to build intercultural and educational exchange between the United States and Korea, the U.S. Education Center also offers services to help U.S. schools, study fairs and other educational institutions promote their programs in South Korea. This blog will describe both the advising services and the web-based promotional services that are offered through the U.S. Education Center. We encourage comments and questions from a broad range of institutional partners in the United States. Don’t hesitate to post questions about services that we may not presently offer, but that you think we should!
Private institutes (학원 in Korean) are a dominant force in South Korea’s education market. There are institutes for the study of English and other foreign languages, other academic subjects, and for advice and help on study abroad. At the elementary and secondary levels, the vast majority of Korean students attend not only public school, but also a private institute. Fulbright frequently receives questions from representatives of U.S. schools about the role of institutes in South Korea, how to contact them, and so forth. In an effort to better respond to such questions and to understand the role of private sector educational institutes here, the Fulbright Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2003 with the Korea Overseas Study Association (KOSA). The MOU was expanded in 2005 to call for joint efforts in three major areas.
This blog will provide information about our cooperative efforts with KOSA along with periodic updates on the role of private institutes in education here and in international educational exchange. In addition, we will accept your questions and attempt to answer them to the best of our ability.