Study: SNU, Geumgang University Offer Most Student Financial Aid

Seoul National University (SNU) and Geumgang University offered the most lucrative scholarship benefits to their students among national universities and private universities respectively.

The annual scholarship per student at SNU and Geumgang University was 557,000 and 2,528,000 won on average, meaning that both schools have opulent financial resource for scholarship.

The figures are according to the “2004 national and private universities scholarship report” released on September 15 by Grand National Party lawmaker Lee Ju-ho, a member of the Education Committee of the National Assembly, who collected the data from the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development.

The report contains facts on the operation of scholarships, the amounts of scholarship funds, and disbursement rankings of universities.

Rich Get Richer, Poor Get Poorer-

Among national universities, SNU granted the largest amount of scholarship money (23.25 billion won) in 2004, and Yonsei University granted 42.19 billion won, the largest amount among private universities.

Among national universities, SNU had the largest per-student scholarship disbursement amount, followed by Korea National Sport University (420,000 won), University of Incheon (410,000 won), and Korea Maritime University (370,000 won). The top private universities in terms of per-student scholarship money were Geumgang University, the Information and Communications University (2.17 million won) Gachon Medical School (2.12 million won), and Pohang University of Science and Technology (1.88 million won).

Most of these universities have common denominators: their foundations are solid and they specialize in medical science or engineering, which is relatively expensive in terms of tuition.

Geumgang University, founded by a Buddhist foundation, granted full scholarships to 92 percent of its students. Although it is a small university with only four departments and 120 new students every year, it grants scholarship to all students who surpassed a certain GPA.

Korea National Sport University explained that it gives scholarship to 62 percent of its students with the special goal of nurturing physical talents.

Among national universities, University of Incheon (1.16 million won) offered the largest amount of scholarship granted to each scholarship student, followed by SNU (1.12 million won), and Korea National Sport University (0.94 million won), while Gachon Medical School (3.60 million won), Holy People University (3.47 million won), and Pochon Cha University (2.79 million won) were among the top private universities.

The national universities with the largest financial support from national and local governments were SNU, Pusan University, Kyungpook University, and Chonnam University (in that order). Yonsei University, Hanyang University, Yeungnam University, and Korea University (in that order) received the most aid among private universities.

In contrast, 13 universities, including Kangnung University, University of Incheon, Sookmyung Women’s University, Sangji University, and Gwangju Catholic University did not receive any financial support from national and local governments.

Insufficient Scholarships for Low-Income Students-

The average amount of scholarship money offered by national universities is 628,000 won per student, just half of the private university average of 1.18 million won per student.

The largest number of honor students received scholarships thanks to good GPAs, while the second largest number received them for working, and the third largest number because of financial difficulties.

National universities granted 74 percent of scholarships to students for good GPAs while offering only three percent to low-income students. Compared to private universities, which gave 37 percent to well-performing students and 11 percent to low-income students, national universities granted relatively small amounts to low-income students.

Rep. Lee said, “Scholarships for low income students and students from rural communities are insufficient. As there are many low-income students with great potential, the criteria for granting scholarships, which are currently focusing more on well-performing students, should be reconsidered.”

Jung-Eun Lee lightee@donga.com