The Education Ministry on Thursday rolled out measures to widen the scope of the installment-based payment system for college tuition, such as allowing a wider range of students to use it.
The installment payment system was introduced by the government so that students would not have to make a single sizeable payment on their college tuition. While 92.8 percent of all colleges have adopted the system, only 2.3 percent of students have used it as of the first semester of 2014 due to several restrictions.
For example, many colleges prohibit scholarship recipients from using the system. Students also cannot get student loans in the middle of the semester, so students who fail to make a payment are forced to quit mid-year.
STUDENT PROTEST AT HUFS ― Students at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies on Wednesday protest the university’s decision to apply a curved grading system to all classes at the university campus in Seoul. (Yonhap)
The ministry said it would ban the restriction on scholarship winners and allow students to take out loans in the middle of the semester.
It will also allow students to make more frequent payments, which is also expected to increase the number of students using the system. According to 2012 data provided by Rep. Min Byung-joo of the Saenuri Party, students are more likely to use the system if they are allowed to make more frequent payments.
Freshmen and transfer students, however, will not be able to use the installment payment system.
The new measures will be applied to all colleges starting this year, officials said.
It is still unclear how many colleges will actually adopt the ministry’s plan since, as of now, it is a merely a guideline.
“The ministry does not plan to penalize schools that refuse to comply. But we may provide incentives for schools that adopt the system in the future,” a ministry official said.
By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)
