Effects of Economic Downturn on Koreans Studying Abroad
An article in the Korea Times contains some valuable data showing the impact of the current global economic crisis on levels of Korean study abroad activity. The article begins with the example of a 26-year old college student in Seoul who had originally planned for one year of English language study in Canada, but substituted three months of work-study in Australia in order to save money.
The Bank of Korea reports that the $1.35 billion sent by Korean families and companies to support their children and employees studying overseas during the January -May 2009 period was a 28.4 percent drop from the $1.88 billion sent during the same period a year earlier. This represents the sharpest decline for the first five months of the year since 1998 when overseas educational expenses dropped 35 percent from a year earlier. In other words, the current economic crisis is not having as much of an impact on study abroad as the 1997-98 Asian Economic crisis did.
According to the Bank of Korea, spending on overseas education during the first five months of the year has increased dramatically since the early 1990s, as the following data show:
- 1993–$114 million
- 2000–$380 million
- 2005–$1.27 billion
- 2006–$1.69 billion
- 2007–$2.01 billion