Study Abroad Expenses On the Rise

In two years, the amount of money that has left Korea because of expenses for studying abroad has close to doubled.

According to the Bank of Korea on April 29, expenses for studying abroad reached $551.9 million during the first quarter (January-March), a 34 percent increase compared to the same period last year ($412 million).

The amount is 1.9 times the mark of $29.2 million set during the first quarter in 2002, just two years earlier.

On the other hand, during the first quarter of this year, the expenses collected from foreigners studying in Korea only totaled $4.1 million, a mere 0.7 percent of expenses spent abroad. This might be an indication of the international competitiveness of Korea’s educational industry.

Putting the first quarter as the standard, study-abroad expenses totaled $314 million in 1997, but took a steep dive in 1998 due to the effect of the foreign exchange crisis, reaching $180.5 million. In 1999, the expenses shot back up to $255 million, $242 million in 2000, $263 million in 2001, and $293.2 million in 2002.

Assistant Chief Cho Hee-geun of the Bank of Korea’s International Payment Team stated, “Although the economic slump has prolonged, expenses ‘invested’ in studying abroad from regular household finances and enterprises for the future are constantly escalating.”

Regular traveling expenditure during the first quarter reached $2.146 billion this year, showing a narrow increase compared to $2.045 billion during the same period last year. The income from regular traveling increased from $1.273 billion last year to $1.3498 billion due to the increased number of foreigners entering the country.

Joong-Hyun Park sanjuck@donga.com