Restructuring Departments to Combat Population Decline: 15 Specialized Private Universities in Regions to Receive Intensive Support

The Ministry of Education has prepared a package of major deregulation measures and financial support to assist private universities in regional areas that are struggling to recruit new students.

The Ministry of Education announced the draft of the '2026 Basic Plan for Fostering Leading Specialized Universities in Regional Areas' today (June 17).

This project was newly established to help regional private universities build self-sustaining, specialized models amidst a rapidly changing environment, characterized by a declining school-age population and an industrial structure centered on artificial intelligence.

The Ministry of Education plans to select approximately 15 regional private universities and provide each with about 5 billion won annually for five years.

The budget allocated for this project this year is 85 billion won.

Furthermore, the government has decided to apply various regulatory exemptions through the designation of 'Higher Education Innovation Special Zones' so that selected universities do not hesitate to reform due to regulatory constraints.

Universities participating in this project must reduce their enrollment quotas by at least 3 percent by the 2030 academic year and completely restructure their departments with a focus on their areas of strength.

The Ministry of Education plans to hold an information session for universities regarding the draft of the basic plan on the 22nd, and will finalize the plan after collecting feedback from the field.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.