Pusan National University (PNU) has struggled to attract international students for years due to excessively high admission requirements. Even if applicants exceed the conditions, the acceptance rate is too low, and the rejection of excellent applicants increases.

PNU requires international students to take a minimum TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) Level 3 or complete a minimum Korean course Level 3 at PNU Language Education Institute as a condition for admission. It is impossible to downgrade the standard, but in the case of an upward revision, it can be adjusted at the discretion of the individual department. As a result, as the number of departments requiring higher than Level 4 increases, rejected cases also increase.

According to the “2023 Fall Semester Undergraduate Admissions Guide for International Students” of PNU, 22 departments required language skills over TOPIK Level 3. Among them, it was found that 18 departments demanded Level 4 or higher, and four departments demanded Level 5 or higher from international students who applied for PNU.

Even if international students exceed the requirements of PNU, it is difficult for them to pass because the standard has been raised every year, but the acceptance rate has been the lowest in the nation for five years. In fact, the number of applicants, who exceeded Level 3 of TOPIK or Language Education Institute, which is the minimum admission requirement for PNU, but failed to pass, has increased from 25 in 2018 to 75 in 2022. The number of applicants, who failed to pass even though they had TOPIK Level 6, which is the highest grade, also has increased from one to 15 in five years. An official of PNU International said, "The average acceptance rate of undergraduate international students in the past five years was 42.4%, the lowest acceptance rate in the nation. In a situation where the admission conditions of PNU are higher than other universities, the acceptance rate is also low, so the number of applicants with excellent Korean language ability is gradually falling.”

As the number of rejected students increases, attracting international students at PNU is at a standstill. It parallels the internationalization index, which is checked by the ratio of international students. According to the “Status of Foreign Students” published in the “Higher Education in Korea service,” which delivers university information disclosure, the ratio of international students at PNU has been sluggish for the past three years, hovering around 2%. It is an absurdly low figure considering that 83.2% of PNU international students meet the language ability, the second highest in the nation.

PNU's admission requirements for international students are high compared to nearby national universities. International students can apply to all departments of Chonnam National University and Jeonbuk National University if they meet TOPIK Level 3 or higher, while PNU requires Level 4 or higher in 22 departments. Kyungpook National University and Pukyong National University also require Level 4 or higher only in nine and two departments, respectively. PNU is the only university among these universities that requires TOPIK Level 5 or higher at the undergraduate level.

Departments with high admission requirements explain that high Korean language skills are essential for digesting the curriculum after entrance. The Dept. of Business of Administration, where the TOPIK Level 5 or higher is necessary for admission, said, “The proposed admission condition is essential for the smooth progress of the lecture. It is difficult to lower the standard.” The Dept. of Nursing also said, "Entrance to the department is based on the criteria of the application guidelines,” expressing its intention to maintain the current standards.

International students say that high Korean language level demands are burdensome, but they are eventually necessary to keep up with classes. Veronica Melanie Weezer (Dept. of Sociology, 22) said, "It is true that the department's requirements are not easy, but to understand college classes, a higher level of Korean language ability than the entrance condition is necessary. Though I received TOPIK Level 6, I felt that I still needed to work on my Korean during class. Kurman Olzas (Dept. of Nanoenergy Engineering, 19) also said, “Korean language skills in PNU are more important than at universities in the metropolitan area since most classes of PNU are conducted in Korean.”

Currently, PNU is trying to attract international students through various programs. PNU International is enforcing a local special process in which students enter the school in English and develop their Korean language skills to graduate, and a preliminary admission system that after being provided with Korean language education in advance, students, who fulfill the appropriate level, can enter. It also plans to develop a customized curriculum for foreigners that focuses on teaching the Korean language as a specialized course for international students who have entered PNU.

Reporter Choi Sun-Woo

Translated by Kwon Eun-Ji