Korea's Efforts to Attract International Universities: An Update

One goal of this blog is to stay abreast of Korean government policies relating to the establishment of international branch campuses and programs in Korea.   In January, University World News published a good summary of progress on the flagship Songdo Global University Campus project.  Later, as mentioned in an earlier post on this blog, Stony Brook University officially announced that it would open a program at the Songdo campus.
Yesterday, University World News carried an article that fills in some of the broader context for Korea's tertiary education sector these days.  Faced with a long-term demographic shift that will significantly decrease the number of Korean college students, the government is undertaking a wide-ranging restructuring of the nation's education sector.
The article notes that foreign branch campuses and Korean institutions that admit foreign students will be included in inspections of universities in the first stage of that restructuring. The government has said as many as 15% of the worst-performing universities will be forced to close or merge if they do not meet strict criteria under the new assessments of all Korean institutions due to begin in September.
Assessments will be conducted of both private and public universities, although slightly different criteria will apply. Private universities make up around 80% of institutions.
The main evaluation criteria will include the number of full-time rather than part-time faculty, graduate employment rates, the rate of increase in tuition fees, and how easily institutions fill student places at the beginning of each academic year
The government has said it will link subsidies that will allow institutions to lower tuition fees to the progress each institution makes in carrying out reforms.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in Seoul informed University World News that "a comprehensive assessment" of foreign institutions that have set up in Korea or are planning to set up, would also be carried out. Under the restructuring programme, additional measures will apply to these institutions.
The exact assessment criteria for international institutions are being researched by the Korea Education Development Institute and others. But broadly, they will take into account an institution's international reputation, its management plans, the way it attracts and pays faculty, and the quality and provision of its academic programmes, the ministry said.
"The principle is to attract globally renowned foreign educational institutions selectively and make them provide high quality education themselves," the ministry said.