Fulbright U.S. Education Center

The U.S. government has published its latest “SEVIS by the Numbers” report, and it shows that the number of Korean students in the United States has increased significantly since the June 2008 report.  South Korea remains the country with the highest number of sctive students, 115,852.  That represents an increase of 12,463, or about 12 percent over the June data.  The most popular field of study for international students in the U.S. continues to be Business, management and marketing, followed by engineering, basic skills, and computer-related sciences in that order.  

One interesting aspect of these numbers is that they show an increase at the same time that the won exchange rate against the U.S. dollar weakened considerably.  However, the data also reflect the summer vacation months and therefore may show an increase in the number of Koreans coming to the U.S. for intensive English or other special programs during the summer of 2008.

A report in today’s Korea Times about a recent survey by the National Statistical Office caught my eye.  According to a survey of 42,000 people over 15 years old from 20,000 families nationwide, 48.3 percent of those over 30 with children wanted to send them overseas to study. Among the mostly high-paid professionals or office workers, about half wanted overseas education from elementary school level.

The survey also questioned why parents wanted to send their children overseas.  A majority responded that they wanted their children to have an international sense of living, but 27.3 percent said they did not like the Korean education system; 16.6 percent wanted their children to learn in a liberal atmosphere; and 13.1 percent wanted them to learn a foreign language easily.

As reported today in the Korea Times, foreign higher-learning institutions are required to have a certain amount of seed money to set up branches in South Korea.  A foreign university needs to have 10 billion won to set up a branch here, while a graduate school should have 4 billion won and schools providing two-year master’s programs should have 7 billion won.

The Cabinet approved a ministry plan Tuesday to remove the seed money rule, which has drawn complaints from foreign institutions seeking to enter the Korean market, in a bid to attract more foreign schools. “Foreign institutions don’t have to secure the seed money if they plan branches in free economic zones and on Jeju Island,” a ministry official said. “The removal is in line with the government’s efforts to attract more foreign schools. We plan to offer more benefits to them.”

The government said Sunday it will expand the education budget to develop training programs for English teachers and recruit more native English-speaking teachers. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced Sunday that it will spend a total of 19.5 billion won ($15.9 million) next year, up 12.2 billion won from a year earlier, for English education programs at elementary and secondary schools.  As reported by the Korea Times, more than half of English teachers in the country are opposing next year’s planned introduction of “Teaching English in English (TEE)’’ teachers. The government plans to recruit 23,000 TEE teachers, who will conduct classes only in English, over the next five years.