From July 7th, 2013, according to the new article 4 of Korean civil law, every person becomes an adult at the age of 19. An adult indicates a person who can stand on his or her own feet and make his or her own decisions on the basis of the law. The new article was made to encourage adolescents to take part in social activities at an earlier age. However, there are some contradictions in reality. When getting admitted to a university dormitory, getting a scholarship, or applying for a loan, university students have to submit some documents related to their parents. Should it really be compulsory for young adults to do so? –Ed.


  A CBNU student, A, is 26 years old. Before he came to CBNU, he had attended another university for 3 years, and then he transferred to CBNU. Furthermore, after he graduated from his high school, he had to study one more year to enter his first university. Considering these facts, he didn’t want to owe his parents anymore, so he decided to live on his own. Thus, he applied for the university dormitory. However, he couldn’t enter the dormitory because his parents live in Cheong-ju; so he had to rent a room, which costs a lot. To ease his financial burden, he wanted to get state scholarships from Korea Student Aid Foundation(KOSAF), but he failed because of his parents’ high income level. He also tried to apply for a student loan from KOSAF, but it was also not accepted for the same reason.

Your parents’ residence, as well as your own, should be outside of Cheong-ju.

  According to the rule of the CBNU dormitories, it is written in article 1 of the rules that only the students who live outside of Cheong-ju are allowed to enter the dormitories. On the CBNU dormitory website, there is no further information about residency.

  However, when a CBNU student makes a phone call to the dormitory administration, the person in charge says that both a student’s residence and his parents’ residence should be outside Cheong-ju. In addition, all CBNU students who are going to enter the dormitories are required to submit a copy of their parents’ resident registration certificates and a family certificate.
  The other national universities’ dormitories also require the information of students’ addresses when entering a dormitory. Among the 10 flagship Korean national universities, there are 7 universities that ask students to submit certificates of their parents’ residence. On the website of Seoul National University’s dormitory, it reads that only the students whose parents live outside of Seoul are allowed to apply for the dormitory and that students whose parents live either in Seoul or in the suburbs of Seoul are not allowed.

Whether or not a student can receive state scholarships and get a student loan from KOSAF depends on their parents’ income level.

  According to the Korea Higher Education Research Institute, about a million university students apply for a state scholarship every semester, which means that one-third of university students receive a state scholarship, and the amount of the total student loans approaches one trillion won a year.
  When a university student applies for any kind of welfare from KOSAF, KOSAF measures their parents’ income level every January and July. Before measuring, the foundation requires consent from both the parents and the students. Then, they calculate the total amount of their incomes to determine an accurate income level.
  In fact, in order to take a measurement correctly, KOSAF investigates their parents’ property, such as income, real estate, cars, pensions and debts, by means of the Social Security Information System from the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Therefore, the benefits that a student can receive are settled based on their parents’ property.




Taming an Adult: Is It All Right?

An interview with Choi Hee-seop, a professor of Jeonju University

  Last September, Choi Hee-seop, a professor of Jeonju University, wrote a column titled ‘State Scholarships, Are They All Right?’ In the column, he mentioned, ‘In order for university students to stand on their own feet, we need to fix the system of state scholarships.’ Let’s hear his opinion in more detail.

Do you think Korean students lack the spirit of independence?

  Almost every Korean student grows under their parents’ wings. It can cause some problems. Especially when they have to make a decision, they tend to count on their parents both mentally and financially because they are already used to it. In the case of university students, their parents usually pay for entrance fees instead of them. As a result, there is a word for these kinds of parents. They are called ‘helicopter parents’. These situations result from a lack of independence.

Why do university students need independence and what kind of mental attitude do they need to have?

  If they learn how to stand on their own feet before becoming an adult, they will be able to have a meaningful life in the future. At the least, they need to be mentally independent. It is good for them to experience as many things as possible, including manual labor. It can make them have a discerning eye to see the world differently.

In your opinion, what kinds of problems does KOSAF have and how can we solve the problems?
 
  Many Korean students try to prove that they are poor enough to receive the state scholarships or to apply for the student loans from KOSAF. I think every kind of welfare could cause students to rely too much upon others. Therefore, whether students can receive any welfare from KOSAF should depend on how hard they try. For example, let’s say there is a student who works for a university and gets a scholarship by doing it. Then, he shouldn’t be allowed to receive more scholarship funds than the amount of time he works.