Centralization is a very common phenomenon in this era, and it is creating a noticeable gap in various fields. It has had a marked influence upon foreign students alike. Therefore, in the light of this phenomenon, schools located in local areas are making serious efforts to attract as many students as possible. In this article, CBT reporters intends to find out more about Chungbuk National University’s strategies and efforts to attract foreign students.
  There is one important question: Why do we need foreign students, and why is it such an important priority for the administration of university? The answer to this is that many universities are currently in crisis. College districts are increasingly having difficulty recruiting students due to a decrease in the school-age population and an aging population. Especially, in the case of local universities, this problem is more serious due to the concentration of students in metropolitan areas. By attracting foreign students, universities can secure admission resources to solve these problems.
  Then let’s find out why many foreign students prefer metropolitan areas. According to an employee of the Office of International Services of Chungbuk Health & Science University, “If you decide to study abroad or become interested in other country, maybe people will know the capital city, and some of the representative universities of the country. Moreover, you don’t want to look at any other options. The same is true of foreign students.” In other words, people pay more attention to the metropolitan area of a country when they learn about it.
  However, there are other reasons for the concentration of foreign students in metropolitan areas. In that sense, Seoul and Busan are examples of representative cities highly favored by prospective foreign students. Moreover, they also have large ports or airports nearby making it easy to travel to and from international destinations where foreign students reside. While it is true that Cheongju does have an airport, it does not operate international flights to many major cities, and it is not really convenient. In other words, Chungbuk National University does not have priority in terms of recognition and location compared to the popular cities mentioned above.
  Then, what are some of the efforts and strategies Chungbuk National University administration are employing in this situation? A typical example is scholarships. Many students first need economic support such as scholarship benefits. In the case of Chungbuk National University, tuition and living expenses are cheaper than schools in the Seoul metropolitan area as they are located in inexpensive provincial areas. This is used as a major selling point to promote our university. As such, efforts are being made to appeal to the good points compared to Seoul and, in addition, to provide many specialized English courses for foreign students.
  One of the staff members of Chungbuk National University’s Office of International Services offered a personal opinion says, “Some of the important advantages of Chungbuk National University is that it has never failed the school certification system conducted by the Ministry of Education since 2013. The government recognizes the centralization of the metropolitan areas, and they also promote it overseas. Also, Chungbuk National University tuition is inexpensive, and it has a favorable geographical location close to major metropolitan areas compared to the other local universities. In addition, there is the Topik scholarship which has been made available, and cyber entrance fairs are being held. Based on these various efforts, it can be said that Chungbuk National University attracts many foreign students, and has a relatively small rate of outflow to the metropolitan area due to transfers in the middle semester.”
  Until now, the CBT reporters have explored Chungbuk National University’s various strategies and efforts to attract foreign students, including the reason for the concentration of foreign students in the metropolitan area. There are also problems to be supplemented and solved because the current situation cannot be considered stable. Let’s find out what problems the university needs to solve to move forward.
  First, indiscriminate attraction of universities has already resulted in poor management of students. An example is to enroll students with low academic standards to match the entrance quota. The student selection criteria, recommended by the ministry of education, are literally just recommendations, so there is no need to obligately follow them at the university. Therefore, as a result, only a few foreign students follow classes, and they do not understand the language. This negatively affects professors and domestic students taking classes together.
  Next, there is the issue of illegal aliens staying on Korean campuses. In the university, admitting foreign students indiscriminately include those who enter without going through the formal process, and it leads to the presence of illegal immigrants.
  There are many other things. According to the conditions and the phenomena that are occurring currently, efforts to attract foreign students are an ongoing task for Chungbuk National University. However, some things should not be overlooked in the process, so the university must not stop worrying about more appropriate alternatives in the future. As members of the university, let’s watch the developing situation together.

By Yoo Gyoung-chan l jg010077@cbnu.ac.kr
By Hong Soo-min | sm41@cbnu.ac.kr