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Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > FY2003 White Paper on Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology >Part1 Chapter4 Section7.2

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Part 1   Higher Education to Support a Knowledge-Based Society Full of Creative Vitality - New Developments in Higher Education Reform
Chapter 4   Higher Education Reform in Other Countries
Section 7   Republic of Korea
2   Creation of Universities on the World Level


In the university reforms which began in 1995, deregulation took place in which requirements for establishing universities were simplified (only minimum standards were set for land and buildings and the number of teachers, etc.) and entrance quotas were decided by universities, and policies aimed at diversification and individualization were put in place. These university reforms were further promoted by Brain Korea 21 (BK21), which was started in 1999.

Brain Korea 21 is a project in which a total of 200 billion won (20 billion yen) in subsidies is provided to designated universities every year over seven years with the aim of nurturing research universities on the world level and increasing the competitiveness of local universities. The project also includes a program in which 49.5 billion won (5 billion yen) in subsidies will be granted every year for three to five years in order to nurture universities, which are centered on research-oriented graduate schools. The subsidies are granted to project teams organized by a university (or multiple universities), and the final chosen project teams will span 73 universities. These universities carry out exchanges with well-known universities in the US and other countries (benchmark universities) through joint research, dispatching of graduate school students, inviting of professors, etc. Reforms are being sought related to the abolishment of entrance examinations separated by major (the ability to choose a major after enrolling in a university), the reduction of undergraduate student quotas, the improvement of teacher evaluation results and the establishment of professional schools, thus giving momentum to university reforms. The performance of universities receiving subsidies is also evaluated every year, and the amount of subsidies granted to universities is reviewed based upon the results.

Regarding this type of financial support based on evaluations, diverse development in terms of the progress of other educational reforms has been seen in recent years, including the start of 15 billion won (1.5 billion yen) in subsidies granted to public and private universities every year beginning in 2000.

University evaluations have been carried out by university associations in earnest in the ROK since 1994, before the government began carrying out these types of evaluation and financial support projects. These evaluations are a system for accrediting whether education and research at universities has reached a certain level. All four-year universities (171) were accredited during the first stage that covered the seven years leading up to and including 2001. Beginning in 1999, evaluations by course began being carried out in addition to evaluations by institution. In these evaluations, the results are rated through a four-level rating system (best, excellent, average, needs improvement), and requirements for competitiveness are introduced.

The national university reform plan, which the government announced in 2000, also seeks to vitalize universities through the principle of competition. In this reform plan, the government continues to look into realizing the following for the 44 national universities (one-fourth of all universities) in the ROK: 1) reorganization and integration of universities throughout the country into seven blocks according to type (research-oriented universities, education-oriented universities); 2) autonomous administration (establishment of decision-making mechanisms incorporating people outside universities); 3) fixed-term system for teachers (newly-appointed teachers) and treatment of teachers according to performance records; and 4) budget allocation based on third-party evaluation.

The nurturing of venture companies at universities can be given as an example of industry-university cooperation. Increasingly more teachers and students at universities are establishing venture companies based on the Special Measures Law concerning the Nurturing of Venture Companies (1997) created by the Small and Medium Business Administration. The Business Incubator (Center) was also established to support the nurturing of start-ups at universities.


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