Fulbright U.S. Education Center

(Seoul-Yonhap News) According to the KEDI annual report on 2010 Korea educational statistics, the total number of Korean elementary and secondary school students who studied abroad during the 2009 academic year (March 2009-February 2010) was 18,118. This number represents a 33.7% decrease compared to the previous year. The number for the 2008 academic year was 27,349.

Korean Elementary and Secondary School Students Studying Abroad

Graphic info:

Blue = elementary school students

Yellow = middle school students

Green = senior high school students

This post is prompted by an article in The Korea Times today entitled “Online College Fairs Benefit Students Overseas.” If only it were that simple!

The fact is that the emerging information age, with all of the information potentially placed at one’s fingertips via the internet, both fixed and mobile, is no panacea.  It does not do away with older media or eliminate the need for face-to-face interaction.  It most certainly does not lessen the importance of a localized, Korean-language approach in recruitment of students here in South Korea.  Moreover, a new online or “virtual” fair, like the one being promoted in The Korea Times article, does not automatically confer trust, credibility or prestige on that entity.

On that cautionary note, and partly because of it I should tell you that we at Fulbright Korea, in cooperation with EducationUSA, have decided to launch our own virtual study in the U.S.A. fair in the Spring of 2011.   Our virtual fair will draw on the new power of the internet and digital media, but its value will not rely exclusively on them.  We will be  publishing the basic structure and format of the fair within a matter of weeks and it will be announced, with fanfare, in this blog.  Please consider this the first of several posts, intended to create a dialogue with our many current and prospective U.S. partners, on just what can and cannot be accomplished in cyberspace, or with a virtual fair.

Please consider this short post an open invitation to send in your questions and suggestions.

James F. Larson, Ph.D.
Deputy Director
Fulbright Commission, Seoul

The New York Times online edition has a front-page story today entitled “Traffic Picks Up in World Education.”   It is based partly on data from a new OECD report that shows more students than ever are studying abroad and that the global pattern of student flows is shifting and becoming more complex.

Although the number of students studying in the United States continues to increase, its share of the global market is falling.   The New York Times report also notes the efforts of countries like China and Korea to build world-class universities.

As reported in the Chosun Ilbo today, it will become easier for Korean universities to establish overseas campuses under a government plan to absorb demand for study abroad.  An official said the government will lift restrictions for overseas campuses of universities within this month and is preparing to support not only educational institutions, but also other services such as medical, IT and financial firms in branching out overseas.

A very informative article appeared in this morning’s Korea Times.  It notes that the number of young students going abroad for study has been dropping since 2006.  According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the number of elementary, middle and high school students going abroad to study declined from 29,511 in 2006, to 27,668 in 2007 and 27,349 in 2008.

To provide some historical perspective, in 1998 the number of young students studying abroad was only 1,562.  This number began steadily increasing until it reached a peak in 2006, as shown in the accompanying graphic.

As of 2008, elementary students took up the largest share  with 12, 531 going abroad, compared with 8,888 middle school and 5,930 high school students respectively.

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

The Wall Street Journal reports that the number of Chinese and Middle Eastern students applying for fall admission to U.S. graduate programs surged, while applications from India and South Korea fell, according to a survey  by the Council of Graduate Schools.

The council, which represents more than 500 higher-education institutions in the U.S. and Canada, said foreigners’ applications for 2009 graduate-school admissions rose 4% from the year before. That compares with increases of 6% in 2008, 9% in 2007 and 12% in 2006. Foreigners’ applications to universities that offer doctoral programs rose 5%, but foreigners’ applications declined 17% at universities that offer master’s as their highest degree.  The council survey of U.S. institutions, which fielded more than 400,000 applications in all, showed growth of applications from China along with the Middle East and Turkey, up 16% and 20% from 2008, respectively. But applications from India and South Korea fell 9% and 7%, respectively.

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.

The Korea Times reports today that Ewha Womans University will open a TESOL graduate school next March to meet the growing demand for English teachers.  Ewha, the oldest and biggest women’s school in Korea, will recruit 40 students at the end of the year and work together with the University of London Institute of Education on dual degree programs. Ehwa President Lee Bae-yong also said she wants to push for globalization projects. Ewha will set up eight more global centers in overseas universities. So far, Ewha has built centers in 12 cities including New York, Beijing, Boston, Tokyo and Hong Kong for networking. With the bases, it aims to send 60 percent of freshmen to sister universities as part of global outreach programs by 2010.