All grades to pay zero tuition from 2030

Full repayment required if students withdraw, to deter transfers

An image related to the zero-tuition policy at regional national universities. [Generated with AI]
An image related to the zero-tuition policy at regional national universities. [Generated with AI]

Starting next year, students at regional national universities will pay no tuition. By 2030, the policy will extend to all grade levels at those institutions — though students who drop out will be required to return the funds.

The Ministry of Education announced Friday the creation of a "regional balanced development scholarship" as part of the government's 2027 budget proposal, unveiling the plan at the "Youth Budget Unboxing 2027" event.

The scholarship program — which combines a new full-tuition grant for regional national universities and a revamped local-talent scholarship for regional private universities — is budgeted at 328 billion won ($238 million) for next year.

Beginning with the 2027 academic year, all incoming students at 30 regional national universities across the country will have their full tuition covered regardless of their financial aid bracket, as long as they are South Korean nationals.

Students enrolled in medical, dental, pharmacy and veterinary programs are excluded. Traditional Korean medicine programs are not affected, as no regional national university currently offers them.

The full-tuition scholarship will require 213 billion won in next year's budget alone. The government plans to invest about 200 billion won annually thereafter, with the goal of extending free tuition to students in all four academic years by 2030.

A Ministry of Education official said the total annual cost of the program is around 200 billion won, but the net increase in spending is 92.6 billion won, because the existing National Scholarship Type I program already accounts for about 100 billion won per year.

To prevent a surge in students exploiting free tuition to prepare for retaking university entrance exams, the government plans to reclaim the full scholarship amount from those who withdraw or otherwise leave their programs early.

Specifically, any additional support beyond the base National Scholarship Type I amount will be subject to full repayment.

The ministry said the principle is to recover funds before any change in enrollment status — such as withdrawal — takes effect. "There will be cases where recovery is difficult, but the Korea Student Aid Foundation will pursue repayment to the end," it said.


20ki@heraldcorp.com