S. Korea Plans to Double Intake of Foreign Students Within 2 Years

[Harold F. Schiffman]

S. Korea Plans to Double Intake of Foreign Students Within 2 Years

South Korea will double the number of foreign students enrolled at its
universities to 100,000 by 2010, the Ministry of Education, Science, and
Technology has said. The plan, mainly targeting Asian and Middle Eastern
students, will also double the number of scholarships available to foreign
students to 3,000, ease visa restrictions and increase accommodations,
according to The Korea Times.

Seoul is trying to correct a lopsided international-education system that
annually sends 220,000 students to study abroad  about 30 percent of them
to the United States  while accepting very few in return. Foreign students
make up less than 1 percent of total enrollment at South Korean
universities, the lowest proportion among members of the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development.

If the number of foreign students increases to 100,000, a ministry
official, Shin Kang-tak, told The Korea Times, we can earn 160 billion won
[$157-million]. Foreigners graduating from Korean universities will also
serve as a driving force in this country, which is suffering from a low
birth rate.

In a separate announcement, President Bush, who is visiting Seoul this
week, agreed with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Myung-bak, to set up a
program allowing up to 5,000 Korean college students or recent graduates
to stay in the United States for up to 18 months to study English and work
as interns. David McNeill

http://chronicle.com/news/article/4952/s-korea-plans-to-double-intake-of-foreign-students-within-2-years

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