Universities in hot seat over use of reserve funds

Students across Korea are preparing to sue over the excessive reserve funds they say their universities have accumulated. Acting on the assumption that colleges are continuing to set aside fees from tuition in reserve funds rather than using them to improve the quality of education, students are demanding their money be returned, reports Korea JoongAng Daily.

Reserve funds are designated for purposes such as investing in research, constructing university buildings and funding scholarships. In the past, tuition money was frequently set aside for such reasons, but the Ministry of Education passed new standards in 2013, banning such practices. Under the new guidelines, only donations, corporate transfers and returns from the school’s financial assets can be collected for reserve funds.

“We are looking into filing class-action lawsuits against colleges that have unjustly accumulated tuition money for the sake of their reserve funds while neglecting to improve education quality,” said a statement by student council members from 10 different universities, including Yonsei University.
Full report on the Korea JoongAng Daily site