Private colleges to hike registration fees

Ahead of the school registration period for the first term of this year, Seoul-based private universities are moving to raise registration fees by 5-10% from a year earlier.

According to private universities Friday, most schools have not yet fixed the increase margin for registration fees, but they made a tentative decision to implement a fee hike.

In a related development, they have already instituted higher registration fees in the form of the deposits demanded of successful candidates on occasional and special entrance tests.

Although the universities said the hike was inevitable considering their financial woes, the Ministry of Education plans to request that universities refrain from raising registration fees, taking into account the current economic downturn.

The government will hold a meeting of economy-related ministers on Jan. 11 to set registration fees for national and public universities and try to minimize the increase margin, considering the impact of the hike on commodity prices.