Tag: university

If you are an international student at the University of Seoul expect to pay double the current tuition rate:

Controversy has arisen over the University of Seoul’s plan to nearly double the tuition fees paid by foreign students starting next year. 

Some students and members of the general public say the sudden hike is unfair and taking advantage of a minority group at the school. However, others say the school’s tuition fees are kept artificially low through subsidies from taxpayers and it is improper to provide such a benefit to foreign students who do not pay taxes.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but according to the article students at the University of Seoul have their tuition cut in half with the subsidy from taxpayers. Tuition is roughly $906 a semester with the subsidy meaning international students will pay twice that rate which is still extremely affordable compared to tuition rates in many U.S. universities.

The discrimination against Asian-Americans in the admittance process into US universities has long been a problem with Congressman Ed Royce is now speaking out against:

Being Korean American should not be an obstacle to receiving a top university education. It’s sad I have to make that clear in 2015.

Earlier this year, a coalition of 64 Asian American organizations filed a complaint with the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights against Harvard University. The coalition argues that Harvard has set hidden racial quotas and a higher admissions bar for Asian American students, including Korean Americans.

Supporting this case is a mountain of evidence. While the population of Asian Americans has grown rapidly in the United States over the past 20 years, the admission rate for Asian Americans at Harvard University has stayed between 15 percent and 20 percent. This suspiciously flat number is also at odds with data that shows a much higher proportion of high-performing American high school students are of Asian descent. “We have data that suggests that 55 percent of kids with SAT scores of 2300 or higher are Asian,” says scholar Edward Blum, who launched another lawsuit against Harvard last year, accusing the school of racial discrimination in its admissions process.

Harvard claims it does not discriminate against Asian American students, which would be illegal. Instead, Harvard argues that it uses an “individualized, holistic review” process to select students, and that “diversity” is but one of many factors considered.

But Asian American parents are right to be suspicious when their hard-working, high-performing children are shut out of top schools and their less qualified peers are accepted instead.  [Korea Times]

You can read the rest at the link, but one’s skin color should not be the deciding factor of who gets to attend a university.