Fulbright U.S. Education Center

The Korean government has sent official notices to Korean embassies around the world mandating them to scrap their customary practice of picking “unqualified” students for the state scholarship program.  The government has often accepted children of foreign ranking government officials even though they fall short of the minimum standards, a practice believed to help boost long-term relations between Korea and other countries.  As reported in The Korea Times, the National Institute for International Education (NIIED) said that 504 students were selected last year, 147 undergraduates and 357 graduate students. (click on graphic for larger version)

The article also says that “With the aim of making state scholarships a Korean branding project similar to the Fulbright Program, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has this year integrated them into the “Global Korea Scholarship project, which has a budget of 51.5 billion won ($46.6 million).  This year the ministry plans to select 700 students.”

Last month we enjoyed hosting the State Department’s Social, Mobile and Visual Media Workshop on “Advising in the Digital Age.”   You may want to check out the Workshop website at http://workshop.educationusa.or.kr/

In conjunction with the workshop, we put together a short promotional video describing our web-based services.  I hope you’ll take a moment to view it on our new YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcixIJG0eZg

Please also note that we have formatted our U.S. Education Center website for easy viewing on mobile devices such as the iPhone and are currently working on creation of a Fulbright U.S. Education Center Korean language app for the iPhone.   Take a look at http://educationusa.or.kr on your iPhone or Android device!    We have added the creation of a mobile version of your website as a new option in our suite of services.  For a complete description of these services see http://educationusa.or.kr/en/usec/services.php

Please share this information, including our new video, with your friends and associates.  Don’t hesitate to contact me (use this link) should you have any questions about these new services.

Jim Larson
Deputy Director
Fulbright Korea

The Chosun Ilbo has an interesting report by the job portal Job Korea of 2,042 salaried workers.   The survey focused on their regrets during the economic recession.  27.2 percent picked poor English skills, 25.1 percent chose lack of professional skills or licenses, and 15.3 percent answered lacking a degree from a prestigious university.  Office workers form a significant presence among students at English language schools in the Gangnam business district of Seoul.  Lunchtime classes at some schools are packed with office workers.  Many of them are focusing on improving their conversational skills.