By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Korean universities are getting more international students for their online courses, presenting the latest example of how the Internet renders geography irrelevant, according to the schools Friday.
However, foreign students who sign up for the virtual classes and degrees are hoping that the schools remove language barriers.
Many universities have been offering their degrees online in recent years, mainly targeting locals who are unable to attend classrooms physically due to busy lifestyles or full-time jobs.
With more of the ``virtual universities'' attaining accreditation by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology as higher education institutions, interest is growing among international students as well.
According to the schools, the number of foreign students at the country's 17 online universities passed the 1,000 mark for the first time this year, more than tripling last year's 265.
The education ministry recognized 12 of the e-universities as higher education institutions last October.
Kyung Hee Cyber University has 332 foreign students for the first semester this year, with 302 of them living abroad, about a five-fold increase from 2008.
The Seoul Digital University has more than 200 foreign students, most of them logging on from overseas, while the Cyber Hankuk University of Foreign Studies is also getting more non-Korean students.
``We have students from 43 countries, although many of them come from the United States, China and Japan,'' said Park Na-ri, an official from Kyung Hee Cyber University. The three countries account for more than 200 of the foreign students, Park said, and the school is getting double-digit numbers from countries including Singapore, Canada and the Philippines.
``The most popular courses are language courses, as there are a lot of `gyopo' (ethnic Koreans) who are looking for certificates to teach Korean in the countries they live. Business management is also a popular subject, and social welfare-related courses are popular with students from Australia,'' she said.
With the interest among international students growing, the online universities are also increasing their efforts to sign them up. Kyung Hee Cyber University was the first to hold admission presentations in foreign countries in 2006, which has since become the norm. The Cyber Hankuk University of Foreign Studies plans to establish units in countries such as the U.S. and Japan.
The institutions receive all applications through e-mail or provide an online applications form. Kyung Hee Cyber University charges students 80,000 won per credit (about $56) plus an admission fee of 300,000 won, meaning it would cost about 1.8 million won for an 18-credit course.
But questions remain about their readiness to handle the influx of foreign students.
The quality of their English sites remain sub-par, and non-Korean students complain that its often hard to apply or follow courses without the help of Korean friends.
Distribution of educational material and the English-speaking abilities of instructors may pose new challenges.
Bethel Ghebru, a 29-year-old Ethiopian student who majors in American studies at Kyung Hee Cyber University, says that online universities here should show better awareness for their foreign students.
``It was very difficult at first, as the English sites were missing a lot of important information and just filled with promotional messages, while the Korean sites tend to be very complicated with all those small menus,'' said Ghebru, who speaks Korean fluently.
``And it would certainly help if the professors were more aware that they were teaching an international audience,'' he said.
Park said Kyung Hee Cyber University is working to provide more classes in English and educational material in e-book formats to non-Korean students.
``English hasn't been much of a problem thus far as most of our foreign students have good command of the Korean language, but we are planning ahead nonetheless,'' Park said.
Most of the school's 89 students from U.S. and many of the students from China and Japan are gyopos, Park said.