University is first to agree partial tuition fees refund

A major private university in Seoul became the first Korean institution this week to say it would partially refund tuition fees to students. This has boosted a major student campaign to have fees returned because of online classes, which students say have been substandard.

Konkuk University on Tuesday 16 June announced plans to cut tuition fees for the fall semester which begins in September, saying it would set the amount of the discount for some 15,000 students after discussions with student representatives this week. It has held a series of meetings with the student council since April.

“The two sides have agreed to apply part of the tuition paid for the spring semester to the cost of the fall semester,” Konkuk University said on 15 June. Under the agreement, students who attended the spring semester will be given an academic scholarship for use in the fall.

The two sides are still discussing what percentage of tuition will be covered. The university said it would tap into funds that had not been spent because of the coronavirus, including scholarship funds.

While universities have said there is no mechanism that allows them to provide refunds, the Konkuk agreement, drawn up with student input, characterises the refunds as ‘scholarships’, enabling it to get round different types of restrictions imposed by the government. The agreement, after eight rounds of talks with students, includes deciding on a formula for students who have just graduated and who will not be returning in the fall.

Move shocks other universities

The move has shocked other university administrations, which have told students who have protested widely in South Korea calling for refunds, that it would not be possible.

The Konkuk move, which the university is funding from its own funds, “has raised students’ hopes when we thought the discussion was closed”, said an academic at another Seoul private university who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“This changes everything. We will have to look again at the issue. But we will also have to pressure the government on this,” he said.

The National University Student Network, comprising 32 student councils from different universities, is holding a relay of protests this week over six days calling on the National Assembly to set up alternative structures that would allow fee refunds.

Konkuk’s decision also appeared to take government officials by surprise. The education ministry this week said it would review “follow-up measures”, although insisting it would not intervene between universities and students.

An education ministry official said Konkuk’s decision is being made “entirely on its own”, adding that most universities were unwilling to make such a move.

Revived calls for changes on use of funds

The Korean Council for University Education, or Daekyo Association as it is also known, said it was not considering tuition fee refunds after its previous discussions with the government on the matter were unfruitful, but said it would review how the state-funded Innovation Support Fund to universities might be used to subsidise students if the government eases restrictions on its use. The budget in question is supposed to be spent only for education and research purposes.

A ministry official said using a part of the budget on student subsidies did not meet the budget’s original purpose, but added that the ministry was considering measures to help support universities that offer financial assistance to students affected by the pandemic.

The education ministry had earlier flagged KRW195.1 billion (US$161 million) of its budget to support tuition-related fees, but the plan fell through due to opposition from the finance ministry.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun has now reportedly ordered the ministry to look into the issue of fee refunds and how different universities are dealing with demands from students.

The National Assembly Research Service (NARS), which provides research for legislation, said on Tuesday that the government should consider taking steps to make it easier for universities to refund tuition fees, after classes were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to data submitted to NARS by the education ministry, the average annual tuition fee per student for a four-year degree at a national university is KRW4.18 million (US$3,440), more than five times that of national cyber universities at KRW756,000. Meanwhile private university tuition, at KRW7.48 million annually is about three times more expensive than private cyber university tuition at KRW2.55 million.

NARS also suggested the education ministry and other related agencies change their method of calculation, including levying tuition fees according to the cost of education, so that they can be refunded easily, including over the long term in preparation for other potential infectious disease outbreaks.

But a NARS researcher said it would be difficult to set a uniform amount for universities to refund to students as universities varied in their finances and there would be a need to see how much individual universities could afford.

National Assembly resolution

The opposition Justice Party said it was collecting signatures from lawmakers to submit a resolution for an emergency supplementary budget to return students’ tuition fees.

A National Assembly deputy for the Justice Party, Bae Jin-kyo, said: “Now, the National Assembly needs to join forces. The Justice Party is preparing for a resolution to urge emergency legislation on the return of tuition fees.”

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, most universities postponed the start of the spring semester by one or two weeks and even when they resumed classes, face-to-face teaching was replaced with online classes, with many complaints from students about the lower quality of online classes.

Universities have claimed that they cannot afford to return tuition fees due to a deterioration in their finances because of the decreasing number of international students, the cost of quarantine work on campus, the establishment of a remote class infrastructure and the operation of facilities such as dormitories and restaurants.

A student advocacy group is preparing a class-action lawsuit seeking tuition refunds and is calling for legislation to enable fee refunds.