How Korean universities can internationalise their campuses to survive

How Korean universities can internationalise their campuses to survive

Korean higher education institutions are facing serious challenges, such as difficulty in filling government’s annual freshman quotas. There is also the great imbalance between the number of foreign students coming to study in Korea and the number of Korean students going overseas.

With the opening of the Korean education market, they now need to internationalise their campuses for future survival, according to Mr Insoo Cho, Director of Administration & Strategic Planning at Yonsei University.

In his book "Internationalisation of the Campus: The case of two major Korean private universities", he noted that internationalisation was a complex and comprehensive procedure involving many different stakeholders and offices, and huge financial resources. 

"Such complex characteristics can cause uncertainty and disintegration within an institution. Successful results require a wellwoven strategic plan, which can save time, capital and energy. It can also lead the institution's internationalisation efforts in the right direction," he added.

From his research on Yonsei and Korea Universities, he found that internationalisation at these two institutions was overly programme-focused and lacked proper organisational strategies. He also noted that programme-oriented internationalisation involved mainly students, with very limited participation by departments. "It is therefore important to include all constituencies and departments through a comprehensive institution-wide process," Mr Cho commented in his book.